Thank God Neville's a coward
by the Wolf at Bay
Summary: what if Neville never asked Ginny to the Yule Ball? She would go with Harry of course. Will cover GOF, OoTP, and HBP at least. Enjoy it anyway. HPGW of course. Mild RWHG
1. Chapter 1

_A/N- This is an AU one-shot, but I've got a lot of good ideas for it so, I'll continue writing based on reviews. And no, I'm not going to change major story lines just because Harry and Ginny are together. It's too late in the story for that, it would only work if they got together before Hogwarts. REVIEW!!!!_

_Gryffindor Common Room._

"This is ridicules, Ginny you can go with Harry and I'll just go alone. It can't be that bad."

Ginny's face immediately went as red as her hair, over the last two years, they had hardly had any contact at all, so Harry had nearly forgotten that Ron's little sister had a hopeless crush on him, and it seemed to be manifesting itself once again. The young redhead was blushing furiously, unable to look anywhere but at the floor, but she hadn't said "No".

"Yeah, how about it Ginny? Please? I'll look like a complete idiot if I have to go alone, not that I wouldn't want to go with you anyway."

Harry rushed out the last bit, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings by telling her she was a last, desperate resort. He wouldn't mind going with her anyway, as long as she acted normally, and didn't stick her elbow in anything. It took Ginny nearly a full minute to be able to even nod her head, then run up to the girl's dormitory. Harry looked pleadingly at Hermione, who seemed to understand his silent request, and followed the younger girl.

"You know Ron; you could always ask Moaning Myrtle."

"Watch it Harry, your taking my sister to the Yule Ball and that makes you fair game for any of my brothers to prank or hex."

"Yeah I can just see Bill and Charlie's faces when they find out your pimping your little sister to your friends."

Harry ducked to avoid the pillows that Ron was haphazardly throwing at him, his face flushed with embarrassment. After the animosity surrounding his entrance in the Tournament, it was nice to be able to joke and hang out with his best friend, almost like nothing had happened. The pillow throwing didn't last long, and Harry sank into thought while Ron finished up his fake Divination homework. It wouldn't be so bad going with Ginny, at least he wouldn't be blushing the whole time and stumbling over his own words, it had been bad enough trying to ask Cho to the ball, spending the whole night with her would be all too embarrassing.

_Third Year Girl's Dormitory._

Ginny was laying on her bed, trying, and failing, to hide the enormous grin on her face, and the famous Weasley blush, rich rivaled her hair in color. She just couldn't believe she was going to The Ball with Harry Potter, it was just like the muggle fairy tale her father had told her when she was young. Now if only he would fall in love with her and they could live happily ever after. Not that Harry was going to fall in love with her, he had said himself that he was only going with her because he had no one else, and couldn't very well go alone. But she would take that for now, it was a whole lot better then nothing. And it was a good place to start a relationship, they could be friends after this, and then maybe, somehow start dating…

Ginny was interrupted from her daydreams by a bushy-haired brunette coming into her room, looking nearly excited as Ginny did. Ginny and Hermione talked more often then most people thought, and Hermione had known for a long time that the younger girl had a crush on Harry, she had tried to talk her out of it, told the redhead to act more like herself around him, because Harry would respond a lot better to that then obsession. Hermione had instantly known what Harry meant with the look, and had gone after the redhead; she would need a lot of work before she was ready to attend a ball with her knight in –not-so-shining-armor.

"Ginny, are you sure you can handle this? I mean the last time you were in Harry's company for more then five minutes in a non-life-threatening situation you stuck your elbow in a butter dish."

Ginny's face flushed again, she was certainly getting a lot of practice at blushing tonight,

"They told you about that? I was kind of hoping it would stay in the family."

"Yes well, butter dishes aside, you do know that you have to open the dancing with Harry? All eyes will be on you, so if there was ever a time not to do something horribly embarrassing, this is it. Plus you never know Harry might have a really good time and want to do it again sometime."

Hermione had meant the last bit to try to lighten the mood, and maybe cheer Ginny up a little, but it only seemed to further her embarrassment, as she blushed yet again, and began begging the older girl for help.

_The Great Hall_

Harry was speechless; he'd never been to any kind of dance before, let alone a wizards ball, so he hadn't really known what to expect, but even his wildest imaginings had not come close to depicting the situation he now found himself in. The Great Hall was at its best, the House Tables had been replaced by a few hundred smaller table, they looked to hold three couples each, and there was a stage against one wall for the band, rumor had it the Dumbledore had booked The Weird Sisters. The candles floating above the hall had been replaced with what looked like thousands of twinkling stars, giving the Hall a brighter look then usual, and the enchanted ceiling mirrored the perfect star-lit sky outside. All of this paled in comparison, in Harry's opinion, as well as many other boys, to Ginny Weasley.

This was, Harry was ashamed to say, the first time that Harry had given Ginny much notice since the end of second year. And he was now regretting that very much, as she was captivating the attention of almost every guy in the school, and the annoyed glares from a lot of girls. To say that she was beautiful was the wrong word, she didn't have the mature features of beauty, Ginny was something else all together. Cute might be a better word, but it was beyond that, she was something else all together, and whatever it was, Harry liked it, he liked it a lot. She had her hair in a loose ponytail, it was just loosely tied behind her neck, and she had brushed it to a high sheen, with a little glitter. She didn't really have make up on, just a hint of blush to brighten her face, that ended up accenting her eyes, which Harry was having difficulty not staring into. The light green dress robes, that just happened to match Harry's eyes, contrasted her bright red hair perfectly.

Harry had been completely dumbfounded when she walked down the stairs to meet him, it had actually taken a nudge from Ron to get him back to reality. He had been staring at her for the entire time that they had been together, only occasionally taking a break to glare at someone who was being a little too obvious.

Ginny was having the time of her life, not only was she going to a ball with the boy of her dreams, but he seemed completely enthralled with her, never mind that half the school was too. Harry had already impolitely told a few boys to take a hike. Ginny loved the fact that Harry was becoming protective of her, it was better then she could have hoped for, they had only been together for a half an hour and it seemed like he was beginning to care about her. Maybe her dreams could finally come true. She was beaming from ear to ear as Harry led her through the receiving line and up the extended Teachers Table, where the Champions, Judges, and their respective dates would be eating.

To everyone's surprise Hermione was at the table as well, with Viktor Krum of all people, and Harry suspected that Ron would not be happy about that. Even more to his surprise, and to Ginny's as well, was the tall redheaded man in horn-rimmed glasses sitting in Mr. Crouch's seat.

"Percy! What are you doing here?" asked Ginny after hugging her brother, who greeted Harry as well before responding.

"I've been promoted! I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him. Taken a bit ill I'm afraid, taking a well deserved quite holiday." Percy was looking as smug as anyone Harry had ever seen, and although Harry was genially happy for him, he felt he would rather not spend dinner listening to Percy rant about work, Ginny was in silent agreement.


	2. Fairies and Ferrets

Almondcrescent, Ginevrapulliza, GinnyPotter86: Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm actually amazed at the popularity of this story. I guess now I have no choice, Thank God Neville's A Coward will continue unrestrained!!! Except by my schoolwork, which some people think is more important.

I'm not sure just yet if I will write out the series, I was already planning that with Witch of Destiny, this was only to be a one-shot, so depending on which one is more popular, I'll shift my focus accordingly. Either way expect GOF updates weekly at least. Sorry if I made Ginny seem a little immature, I've been reading a lot of future fics in which she is 17, 18, and 19, ECT. It's been hard writing her as a 13/14 year old. I want to elaborate their relationship but I can't. Also sorry for any other mistakes, sadly I have no books for reference, not that I ever keep to cannon anyway.

I'm in the market. For a Beta that is, with the way people are loving this story, I'll need help, enquire in your reviews.

The WoLf At BaY, and his inspiration, Freckles, proudly present,

Chapter Two: Fairies and Ferrets.

READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW.

Harry was having a remarkably good time considering the facts that he'd never been to any kind of dance before, let alone a formal ball, and didn't have a clue how to dance. Ginny had probably saved his life in the department, she had instantly taken charge and led him across the dance floor, and Harry instinctually matched her movements and followed her whispered advice, witch led to him appearing to be an above average dancer. It didn't hurt that he and Ginny fit perfectly into each others arms, or that he was determined to make sure she enjoyed herself. It was funny, at first he had only asked her as a last resort, actually he hadn't asked her, Ron had just kind of made it happen, but now he was genuinely concerned about whether she had a good time, and still rather mesmerized by how good she looked. Good he possibly _like_ Ginny Weasley? It was certainly starting to seem that way.

These were the thoughts that danced through Harry Potter's head as he led Ginny into the garden of enchanted rose bushes that had been set up on the front lawns. There were thousands of beautiful glowing lights hovering throughout the garden, which Harry realized where actually fairies, flitting from rose bush to rose bush. The whole scene was extremely romantic in Harry's mind, and he was just starting to wonder why he had brought Ginny out here when his mind told him to shut up and stop thinking.

Harry found it rather odd that he had just subconsciously told himself to shut up, but it was time to listen to his heart, not his mind, and both seemed to agree on that. Walking through the field of fairies with Ginny was like something out of a wonderful dream that Harry couldn't remember having. As amazing as Ginny looked by herself, the glowing fairly lights made her hair shimmer and sparkle, and her eyes seemed to smolder with a sudden depth of passion that Harry found positively captivating. He once again felt a very strong urge to kiss the vision of simplistic perfection beside him, but he needed to sort out his feelings before he went and kissed a girl, especially this girl, just because she looked cosmically beautiful.

After they had walked for about ten minutes, Harry lost in silent deliberation as to his feelings, and whether or not he should act on said feelings, and Ginny just enjoying the moment, mutely praying that it would last forever. Harry stopped suddenly when he realized they were in the exact center of the rose garden, he suspected it was no accident that his feet had taken him here, and if that wasn't confirmation that this was what he really wanted, what he really should do, then he didn't think there ever would be. The question was whether or not he could live with the consequences of the decision he was about to finalize. Everything else he had ever done, all the lives he had effected, for better or worse, every paramount choice in his past, all seemed to pale in comparison to the one he was, had already made.

Nearly every important choice he had made previously had impacted people, not just himself or his friends, but many others as well, whether, the wizarding world at large, or just the student body at Hogwarts. But this enigmatic decision would weigh on the lives of only two people, himself, and someone he was only just coming to realize how much he cared about. For once, for one brief, shining moment, Harry knew what it was to feel like a normal person, he was making an important choice, the outcome of which would not alter the lives of half the country, and it was in the blissful moment that Harry decided, because he could feel like this again, if only he would follow his heart.

Harry slowly lifted his arms around Ginny's slender form, he was seeing the world in slow motion, and it was as if time itself was holding it's breath to see what would happen next. His hands settled on her hips, she was leaning into him, her arms wrapped around his neck; they were both leaning into each other, their lips mere inches apart. Harry longed to close that gap, he felt so completely overwhelmed by his emotions, he hadn't known it was possible to feel like this, and he would never have that Ginny could evoke such a torrent of passion and desire in him. He watched, still in slow motion, as he moved agonizingly slowly towards Ginny, he was already drowning in her eyes, and had no desire to be rescued.

Harry reluctantly closed his eyes, he was perfectly content to continue staring into the twin pools of glowing emotion before him, but it just felt like the right thing to do. He could tell without looking that he was only a fraction of an inch away from Ginny, any second now and their lips would meet. A pulse of excitement shot through him, _damn, he wasn't even kissing her yet and he was already shaking._

Ron Weasley really was not having a good night. First of all Harry had showed up with Ron's little sister on his arm, looking like they were meant to be together, and a lot closer then Ron would have liked, especially towards the end of the evening. Then they had disappeared entirely, which Ron wasn't sure he liked, because he very much doubted that they had simply returned to the Common Room. Secondly, Hermione's mystery date had finally been revealed, as Viktor Krum of all people. Ron was not happy about that, truth be told it wasn't so much that Krum had asked Hermione, it was that, yet again, he found himself overshadowed by someone rich and famous. Though he was loath to admit it, he had really wanted to go with Hermione, and to finally tell her how he felt about her. Ron blamed Krum entirely for ruining that chance.

Alone, and seething in his own petty vindictiveness, Ron sought out a bearer for the brunt of his fury, and what better candidate then Draco Malfoy. The blonde Slytherin was making his way across the Entrance Hall when Ron accosted him.

"OY! Ferret-face! Have a good time at the Ball did you? Only I didn't know ferrets and bull-dogs got on that well. Oh I'm sorry, that's Pansy your with, couldn't tell the difference. Honestly for someone who's always harping on about how rich they are, couldn't you afford something better? Can you get a refund? I really think you should."

Ron was amazed at how much better he felt after venting his spleen at Malfoy, he was also highly amused watching the ferret's cycle through the different shades of red and purple, so he decided to continue. Revenge was to be sweet that night.

"Or does Daddy-dearest only want you associating with known Death-Eaters? What did you do for your first date? Let me guess, you dressed up and masks and cloaks and attacked the World Cup right? Oh no that's right, we saw you that night, you ran and hid when all your little friends starting causing trouble right?"

Malfoy was actually looking scared by now, and Ron was almost feeling sorry for him, almost. Malfoy turned on his heel and stormed out the front doors, leaving an outraged bull-dog, and a very happy Weasley behind. Little did Ron know exactly what was going on in the rose garden outside the doors, or just who it was going on between, or what exactly he had helped ruin.

Draco Malfoy had never been so embarrassed in his life, how dare a blood traitor talk to him like that, and in front of people. His father was sure to hear about that, he would not be pleased. Draco was storming through the garden, burning rose bushes out of his way and scattering the fairies, taking out his anger on the beauty around him, when he came upon a most interesting sight, _time for some payback._

They were so close now, it seemed to have taken months for them to move this close together, the tension in the air could be felt, even the fairies seemed aware of it. Ginny's heart was racing, this was it, she was finally going to kiss Harry Potter, and he wanted her to, and it was going to be magical, it already was. Their lips were so close, less then a second until they would touch.

Hermione had enjoyed her evening more then any other time in her life. The only problem was that Viktor could barely say her name, was a lot older then she, and apparently wasn't used to hearing the word "No". He had managed not to completely ruin the evening, but only just. So it was a fairly content Hermione Granger that was walking through the Entrance Hall when the prat she called her best friend tore into Draco Malfoy, sending the blonde Slytherin running out the front doors. _Oh no, Harry and Ginny are out there, I've got to stop him._ Hermione took off, moving as fast as she could in a gown and heels, desperate to stop Malfoy before he destroyed Harry and Ginny's night.

Draco was just about to start yelling at the clearly about-to-snog couple, when he heard the bushes rustle behind him, he caught a glimpse of periwinkle blue mixed with glittering turquoise just before Hermione's stunning spell hit him, knocking him out cold.

Hermione took stock of the situation, Malfoy was out cold, and to her utter delight it appeared that Harry and Ginny were about to share their first kiss. The bright, bushy haired witch could feel the magical tension in the air, and knew that was something she had no business watching. She ducted back behind the rose bush and levitated the unconscious Malfoy back up to the castle, leaving one very happy couple behind.

Harry's lips finally met Ginny's after what seemed like a life-time, and he felt another jolt go through his body, electric fire sprung from his lips and quickly consumed the rest of his body, he felt so alive it was staggering. This was the greatest thing Harry Potter had ever experienced; the only thing that could even come close was how he felt when he was flying, like he was completely free. He could do anything now, if he could feel like this all the time, he would be invincible, if ten Hungarian Horntails were to land in front of him right now, they wouldn't stand a chance against him.

Ginny wasn't sure what was going on, she knew that she kissing Harry, and that it was the single best moment of her life, but there was something much more to it, she had felt the same jolt of energy that Harry had, and now felt the same amazing energy and sense of absolute self that he did. She could also _feel_ him, not just physically, but mentally as well, there was a small part of her mind that was aware of him, his feelings, and where he was, it was really remarkable, because she knew that he was feeling the same thing she was.

Harry too was having the best time of his life, he didn't care about what was happening in regards to the surges of magical energy he had felt, or the new part of his mind that was now Ginny. He was concentrating solely on the beautiful young woman that he was kissing. It was like something out of someone else's life, an almost completely normal experience, it was life the way it was supposed to be, his biggest concern was that his date was happy, no life-altering outcome.

Both Ginny and Harry deepened the kiss, still wrapped around each other, both knowing that it was what the other wanted. The build-up of energy that had felt previously had lessened to the point where it could no longer be felt, and time seemed to have caught up to them, but that only made it a slightly less astounding scene. Ginny still looked radiant, and the fairies were still gently floating around, the setting was utterly perfect, and neither of them could have dared to hope for anything better for their first kiss. Ginny because it was almost exactly the fairy tale she had always hoped for, just so long as she didn't wake up from it. Harry because for the first time in his life, he was a completely normal teenager, and he had found someone who didn't care about his fame or his story, he wasn't sure how he knew, but he could tell that Ginny, while she may have once liked him for his story, no longer did. She had matured past that after she had met him, after he had saved her life, once she had gotten to know him a little, but she had just fallen in love all over again, much more permanently.

_A/N--- Sorry! Short chapter, but I'm writing this during class Tuesday morning to appease my readers, future chapters will be longer I promise, I just wanted to prove to everyone that this is no longer a one-shot. It's a fully-fledged book-in-progress, possibly a series. I'm glad you all enjoyed it so far, please continue to review, and look for my other stories as well. Thank You!!!_

_The WoLf At BaY_


	3. Oh, Brother

The WoLf At BaY, and Freckles, proudly present chapter three:

Oh, Brother

To say that Ron was upset would have been an understatement of catastrophic proportions. He had never been angrier in his, and the source of his anger just happened to be his two best friends. First Hermione had completely betrayed him, Harry, and all of Hogwarts by going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, she should have gone with someone from Hogwarts, someone from Gryffindor, she should have gone with him. Then Harry had gone and _kissed_ Ginny, had kissed his baby sister. After Ron had been thoughtful enough to get her to go with Harry so he wouldn't be alone, how could Harry betray him like that? Both of his closest friends, he actually considered Harry a brother, had betrayed him, on the same night, at the Ball that they were supposed to go to together.

Ron was fuming his way back to the Common Room, when the sound of a girl crying reached his ears, and not just nay girl, he had been friends with her for long enough to recognize her crying, it was his least favorite sound in the world, mostly because he was frequently the cause of it. Ron stopped his mental tirade against his friends, Hermione sounded like she needed someone now, and this was his chance to prove to her that he was not just and insensitive jerk. He quietly opened the door, and found just what he was expecting, Hermione was sitting at one of the desks, her dress looked beautiful, but her hair had come of the elegant knot it had been in, and her makeup was gone. But for the tear tracks down her cheeks, Ron thought she looked even better then before, this was the Hermione that he really liked, the normal everyday Hermione, who was just being herself, usually that meant she was buried in some book, and not trying to impress some foreign Quidditch star who was five years older then her anyway. Only she was crying her eyes out, and he was going to kill the son on a bitch responsible, even it was himself again.

"Hey 'Mione, what's wrong? Wait; first off is it my fault again?" Ron asked the question softly, it probably was his fault so he didn't want to upset her anymore.

"No, Ron, its not your fault, its- its just I was having the perfect night, even if Viktor's not the best looking guy, or the brightest, it was still nice to be the center of attention, and get all those jealous looks from his fan club. But then he had to go and ruin it all, just because no girls ever said "no" to him before, then he has the audacity to act offended and-" Hermione ran out of breath at this point and started sobbing again.

Ron was getting worried, clearly Hermione was extremely upset, based on what she had just said, well, he was going to curse Viktor Krum either way, whether or not the curse would do any permanent damage he had not yet decided. Right now Hermione needed him more then he needed to worry about revenge. He took her, awkwardly at first, in his arms, and let her cry on his shoulder. It was the firs time he had ever been this close to Hermione, certainly the first time he had ever held her, and most certainly the first time he had ever felt this concerned for another person.

Ron stayed with Hermione in that otherwise empty classroom for most of the night, comforting her when she needed it, and trying his best to cheer her up. He succeeded, if only slightly, Hermione was just composed enough to make it back to the Common Room, where she headed up to the girl's dormitory, after kissing Ron on the cheek. Two hours later, Ron was still sitting, wide awake, in the Common Room, mentally replaying the days events, and sorting out what everything that had happened meant. He was still upset with Harry, but even more upset with Krum, and he was very worried about Hermione, much as he fought with her, he truly hated seeing her upset.

Harry awoke far too early, in his opinion, the next morning, dressed, and went down to the Common Room, fleetingly wondering were Ron was, and why he hadn't come up to bed last night. When he arrived in the surprisingly crowded Common Room, he quickly found Ron and Hermione in their usual spot by the fire, but when he went over to join them, to his immense surprise, Ron promptly left, going down to breakfast alone, leaving him with Hermione. Harry was about to ask her what Ron was upset about, sure it was something foolish and petty, when he noticed how red and puffy her eyes were, and how little sleep she appeared to have gotten.

"Hermione, what's wrong? You look terrible." As much as Harry hated to say it, it was true, her hair was almost as bad as his, her eyes were blood-shot and swollen, and she had tear tracks down her cheeks, clearly she had been up almost all night crying.

So Hermione retold much the same story she had last night, only this time leaving out the part where Krum had tried to get her to talk about Harry's magical abilities, or more specifically, weaknesses. By the time she was done, a good fifteen minutes later as she had started crying again about halfway through, Harry was ready to kill, but that could wait.

"Hermione, this wasn't your fault, he's just some ruddy Quiditch star who thinks that since he can fly well he's entitled to anything he wants. You proved him wrong, so he didn't take it too well, but don't let effect you this much, if you let him make you miserable, then he wins, 'cause I guarantee you he's not losing any sleep."

When this approach failed Harry decided to play his trump card, he had meaning to have this conversation with Hermione anyway, and now was as good a time as any.

"Hermione," Harry had only said one word and already Hermione was showing her old curious self at his tone of voice. "I've never had a family, you know that, but since I've met Ron and the rest of the Weasley's they're been like a family to me, I finally have some idea of what its like to have parents, and brothers, so all I need now is a sister." Harry's words had the desired effect, as Hermione's head shot up, her tears gone and all thoughts of her current misery abandoned. "Hermione I would be honored if you would be my sister."

This left Hermione in stunned silence for a nearly a minute, Harry could not recall that ever happening in the four years they had been friends.

"What about Ginny?" asked Hermione "You said the Weasley's are your family, shouldn't that make Ginny your little sister if Ron's your brother? To surprise Harry frowned at that, she had expected that he merely forgotten the youngest Weasley, but he seemed to have already given it consideration.

"No, I don't think Ginny would appreciate that very much, and quite frankly I don't want Ginny as a sister. I want you for a sister." Hermione was very confused by Harry's refusal to include Ginny in his family, and found herself getting angry on Ginny's behalf, but Harry's insistence that he wanted her for a sister, and her own pride and joy at the gesture quickly overwhelmed her other feelings, leading to twenty minutes of what Harry would later refer to as, 'Sometimes I wish Hermione wasn't a girl time'. Harry left to go down to breakfast, after telling Hermione that he would challenge Krum to a duel if it would make her feel better, she said she would think about it, then headed back up to her dormitory to clean up.

Ron was in the Common Room, having returned there after eating a quicker-then-usual breakfast so that he wouldn't have to see Harry. He noticed how much better Hermione looked which, instead of lifting his mood, only served to deepen his jealousy. _Bloody Potter, I could've gotten Hermione to cheer up, I just needed some time. Why'd he have to show up and do it?_ By the time Hermione was ready to go to breakfast, Ron had worked himself into quite a rage, in his mind, Harry had totally betrayed him, first by kissing his sister, then by going after Hermione as well. This was utterly ridicules of course, but angry minds rarely see reason.

Ron decided to accompany Hermione down to breakfast, he was still worried about her, and he was of course hoping that after the disaster with Krum, Hermione might turn to him for comfort, instead of Harry. This turned out to be something of a mixed blessing for Ron, as Hermione told him all about Harry saying that he wanted her to be his sister. At first this upset Ron to no end, Harry already had Ginny for a sister anyway, especially if he thought Ron a brother, Ron had chosen to overlook that in favor of his anger and jealousy. He did, however, come up with a rather distasteful plan to get back at Harry, a very sneaky, underhanded one, and he was going to need Hermione's help, a lot of it, first he would have to get her on his side. _I'll show him, just a few days and he'll be back to ignoring Ginny and asked me to forgive him, I'll let him know just how it feels to have your best friend betray you like that._

Harry had just sat down to breakfast when Ginny popped out of nowhere and took a seat next to him, Harry amazed at the changes he saw in her. Gone was the shy, nervous girl that was the only Ginny he knew, she had been replaced by the confident, extremely cute, radiant-looking redhead now sitting beside him. It was a side of Ginny Weasley that he had never seen before, and he liked it. They shared a very enjoyable breakfast together, nearly as nice as the preceding night, only with less kissing, to both Harry's and Ginny's disappointment.

Harry had briefly registered Ron's reactions to him, at the time he had more worried about Hermione, and he was trying to figure out exactly why his best friend was mad at him. He tried posing the question to Ginny, Ron was her brother after all.

"Well the fact that I spent almost all of last night either in your arms or kissing you could have something to do with it. You know, he's just going for the over protective brother thing."

"Yeah but it was his idea that we go together in the first place, what did he expect?" asked Harry.

"He expected you to treat me like a little sister of course, haven't you noticed how he does that?" Ginny had more then just a hint of distaste in her voice.

"Does what?" asked Harry.

"Always treats me like a little kid when you're around, he's not usually like that, but since I turned thirteen he's got some crazy idea that I'm going to somehow convince you to fall in love with me. So he's been doing everything he can to get you to look at me as a little sister."

"Well then," said Harry "it's a good thing he failed miserably." Harry instantly blushed at his own words and left the Great Hall promptly for potions class, unwittingly causing Ginny to spend the entire morning wondering if he had just said what she thought he said. _Did Harry Potter just say he loved me?_

Ginny was left wondering until nearly dinner, as they both had classes all day, and Harry had had to spend lunch in the Library with Hermione, trying to finish his DADA essay, apparently Professor Moody had threatened to curse him if he didn't get it done, and Ginny didn't blame Harry for not wanting to test the man's word. Therefore it was nearly dinner before Harry and Ginny were even able to have a decent conversation, and that was cut far too short by Ron's appearance, and the subsequent row given the fact that he had entered the Common Room just as Harry and Ginny had been kissing rather passionately, or at least Ron thought so.

"Potter! What do you think you are doing? Get your hands off my baby sister!"

Ron's face was as red as his hair, and something told Harry that it wasn't from embarrassment. His hands were balled into fists, and he looked ready to punch someone, probably Harry. But Harry was not going to make that easy, now he understood why Ron was mad at him, and it made him just as mad. His anger towards his best friend increased as Ron continued to yell.

"How could you betray me like this? All I've ever done is be your friend and the second my back is turned, here you are running around with my little sister. What did I ever do to you?"

"First off," started Harry "no one's betraying you Ron, and let me remind you who it was that got me and Ginny together in the first place, but why would you care that your best friend and your sister are happy? Why that matter to you? The only thing that matters to you is whether your happy or not, and if you keep that up, your going to find yourself unhappy a lot of the time."

Though Harry had not yelled at him, Ron was frozen by his words. Harry was right, he had set them up, Bill and Charlie were going to kill him, he had promised them he would keep and eye on her. Ron had been so sure that Harry would never be able to see Ginny as anything other then a little sister, he had been sure of it, he had been wrong. Ron stormed out of the Common Room, for the second time that day; he had to figure out a way to end this before his other brothers found out about it.

"Well so much for a nice, quite evening huh Gin?" Harry was still mad about Ron's outrageous behavior, especially his insinuations that Harry had somehow betrayed him.

"Yeah, maybe we should just find a secluded broom closet." Harry was shocked by what Ginny had said, the Ginny he knew was nervous and shy, the Ginny before him was calm and confident, not blushing furiously as Harry had expected, and she was serious, as Harry found out five minutes and one broom closet later.

Ron was in the library, where else was he supposed to find Hermione, but he had calmed down a bit. Hermione had told him right at the beginning that she was not going to help him unless he could control his temper, and go about things logically. He thought he had made a good start by not hitting Harry in the Common Room. Hermione was buried under her usual pile of books, studying away at God only knows what, and she began speaking without looking up at him.

"Ron are you sure you want to do this? I mean think about it, Harry will get really angry, especially when he finds out you're just faking it to upset him. I think he really does like Ginny, he's not just toying with her at any rate." It was odd the way Hermione seemed to able to talk and read at the same time.

"Yes I'm sure Hermione, and I hope he gets really angry, he'll know just how I feel then."

After an hour and a half in the same broom closet, Harry was feeling lightheaded, from lack of air, and extremely happy, from having spent over an hour kissing Ginny. It was an extremely effective way of taking his mind off of things, like Ron and the Second Task; he was going to have to use this method in future, a lot. He did still want to have a nice, private conversation with Ginny, if she had been confused at breakfast, it was nothing to how he felt, and it really was something that they needed to work out together.

They finally made it back to the Common Room, Ginny insisted on making a few stops along the way and Harry was only to happy to oblige. They found it nearly empty, it wasn't that late yet, but that was actually better for them, as they took their usual seats by the fire. Harry knew this was going to be awkward for him, and the smug look on Ginny's face told him she would not make it any easier on him, which she proved a moment late.

"So Harry what did you really mean this morning when you said that Ron had failed miserably? Cause it kind of sounded like you were saying you loved me." Harry couldn't believe Ginny had just dove right into it like that, not giving him any chance to think his way through it. There was a brief silence before Harry answered, he wasn't really too sure himself, and he didn't want to tell her something that wasn't true.

"I hope so, I could definitely get used to this." It was the closest thing to the truth that Harry could put into words, and it left a good opening for Ginny to insert her opinion.

"Get used to what?" asked Ginny playfully.

"This." Responded Harry as he pulled her close and started kissing her again.

_(Let me know if you hate the cliffie)_

**Almondcrescent, impteen16, MrPowell thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you like the story so far, I've decided to work both TGNAC and Witch of Destiny, TGNAC will be Romance/Humor, WOD will be Romance**** Adventure. I just have too many conflicting idea's to only write one story. As a result updates will be a bit sporadic. Now on ****to ****business. Two stories at once is mentally taxing, I've been spending more time revising then writing, I need a Beta, if your interested, just say so, you'll probably ****be the only one. Perks include: Early previews of each chapter, concept ideas that may or may not make it into the story, and a spot in the titles with me and Freckles. **

**Manga-Fanatic- Wow, good to know you enjoyed it. Unfortunately as I read your review I was struck with a touch of genius, thanks for that. Hermione and Ron will end up together soon, I think, but not in the way you want. There will be no two happy couples/best friends in this fic, I'm saving that for OoP. But I promise you'll like it. The mind connection I feel has been done to death, so I'll not be playing that too much, but it will be there. **

**Ginevrapulliza- Sorry the chapters are short, I want to keep them coming as fast as I can, and to be honest, I don't want to put too much into one chapter, they are getting longer, Fairies and Ferrets was a few hundred words longer then chapter one. About those magical surges, I like to think, and I am the author so what I think becomes reality, that they were more because Harry and Ginny are both pretty powerful and, though they don't know it yet, are truly in love with each other. Not because of the whole Chosen One thing, which won't happen in my book for some time. He deserves some off time. Thank you for the offer on canon help, unfortunately that wont help me much for two reasons, first screw cannon, I almost never use it, second, I too possess encyclopedic knowledge of all things cannon. Thanks anyway.**


	4. Sisters and Friends

The WoLf At BaY, Freckles, and Leigh proudly present Chapter 4:

Sisters and Friends

Hermione was having mixed feelings about the scheme that Ron had concocted. It was actually pretty good, better then she expected from Ron. It was also very cruel, if they followed through with this, it could cost them Harry's friendship, permanently. It would also hurt her, having Ron fake something like that; well he didn't know how she felt, how could he? But it would still be painful.

It was only because of her feelings for Ron that she had agreed to do this, otherwise she would have immediately objected. Hermione had been severely disappointed when Krum had asked her to the Ball and not Ron; she had really been hoping he would. She only hoped that, through this charade, Ron would figure out how she felt, and hopefully reciprocate. She also hoped that somehow Harry would be able to forgive them later.

Harry was extremely late to DADA, and somehow he didn't think that Professor Moody would take being pulled into a broom closet by a feisty redhead as a good excuse. He ran down the hallway leading to the classroom, trying to navigate and think of an excuse at the same time is not an easy task. He slid through the door, disheveled and out of breath, to see Moody sitting behind his desk, staring at the door, apparently waiting patiently for him to arrive.

"Mr. Potter, how nice of you to join us. Broom closet door can be tricky if you're not careful, try leaving it slightly open next time."

Harry immediately blushed a red to rival any Weasley, Moody had been watching, via his magical eye, the whole time! And judging by the looks on his classmate's faces, and the anger apparent on Ron's face, he had also told the class just what was going on. Harry was surprised to see Hermione also looked slightly angry, but couldn't figure out why. She was sitting next to Ron, in the front row, leaving Harry to find a seat in the back, next to Neville.

Professor Moody began the class, instructing the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to read the chapter on stunning spells, and go over the incantation and wand movements amongst themselves. Harry, who already knew this spell, told Neville not to worry about it, that he would help him with it later, and the two spent the majority of the class just talking.

It was not a terribly interesting conversation until Neville mentioned Ginny, unknowingly placing his life in danger.

"You know Harry I've been wondering, what do you think would happen if I asked out Ginny? You know, Ron's sister. You think she might say 'yes'? I was actually planning on asking her to Yule Ball, but I couldn't work up the nerve." Neville blushed at this admission, obviously not noticing the look on concentrated fury on Harry's face, he blindly carried on. "I mean I've talked to her now and then, worked on homework together, she is really cute too, and I don't think she's ever had a boyfriend, you think I should ask her?"

It took the better part of a day for Neville, after he was released, to figure out exactly why he had woken up in the hospital wing, in a fair amount of pain, and been told by Madam Pomfry that he would need to stay for two more days.

When he finally did work it out, he surprised everyone by going straight to Harry and apologizing profusely, insisting that he had had no idea that Harry and Ginny were together.

"Honestly Harry, I had no idea, or I never would have said anything."

"It's alright Neville, you didn't know, I guess I just assumed that everyone knew about me and Ginny. Sorry about that hex too, Fred and George said the squawking should wear off soon."

Neville, after loosing his feathers, had been sporadically bursting into fits of load squawking. Apparently Madam Pomfry had been unable to completely reverse Harry's hexes, which spoke wonders for his magical ability. Even Professor Moody had been so impressed that he had only given Harry one detention, which had been fairly easy, helping the Professor grade essay's from his first year classes. Harry had actually found it relaxing, and he enjoyed reading the younger students work.

Ron smiled to himself as he walked down the seventh floor corridor towards Gryffindor Tower, things were going exactly as he wanted them to, Hermione had agreed to help him, and with a little luck, they could pull it off perfectly. Ron had little doubt that everything would go as planned, Hermione was the smartest witch Hogwarts had every seen after all, if anyone could make this work, it was her. And the best part wasn't even his revenge, or the lesson Harry would learn, he, Ron, would get to 'date' Hermione. O.K., so they wouldn't really be dating, it was still a step up in Ron's book.

To say that Harry was in heaven right now would be catastrophically inadequate, where he was now made heaven look dull and boring, because he was in a broom closet with Ginny, and he could barely remember his own name. Had Harry been able to think clearly, he might be marveling at the changes that their relationship had evoked in Ginny. She was so exuberant now, always ready to do something, especially if it included mercilessly teasing Harry, and then snogging him for an hour or more; and that just fine with Harry.

Ginny was equally enthralled, though less surprised at her own actions, she had been waiting a very long time to do this, and now that she could, she intended to take advantage of every opportunity. Her hands were lost in Harry's unruly hair, and his were roaming over her back, or lower. It wasn't one of her more romantic dreams come true, but the Yule Ball had been enough romance to last for a while. It was going to be a real pity when they had to stop to do homework, she was really enjoying this, and she knew that Harry was too.

A very disappointed Harry was leading and equally distraught Ginny out of the closet, trying to ignore her insistence that they stay another hour. It was proving increasingly tempting to obey Ginny's wishes. What ultimately changed his mind was the appearance of Ron and Hermione. Harry thought he was in for another massive row with the redhead, how wrong he was.

Both Harry and Ginny were left completely speechless by what happened next, that is to say that neither of them had ever, in their wildest dreams, expected Ron to wink at them, before leading a grinning Hermione into the closet they had just vacated. The young couple was left shell-shocked for several minutes, staring dumbly at the now closed door, not even hearing the rather passionate sounds coming from within.

Things were going exactly as Ron had predicted they would, in regards to his plan at least. His own reactions were far from what he expected. He expected to be thinking something along the lines of; '_Perfect, he was right there when we went in, this will be bothering him all night.' _He had certainly not expected to be thinking: _'Wow, I never would have thought Hermione could kiss like this.'_ For that was Ron Weasley's last coherent thought of the evening.

'_Merlin, I cant believe I'm kissing Ron, this is amazing, he's such a good kisser.' _This was Hermione Granger's last coherent thought of the evening, very far from her expectations of anything she thought would ever be in her mind.

Sadly for Ron, Harry did not spend all night brooding over him and Hermione locked in a broom closet, instead he spent another hour of quality time snogging Ginny, this time in the Common Room, neither of them cared about the audience, or noticed them for that matter. He was not going to be upset about Ron and Hermione, in fact, he had been expecting it for some time now, and most people who knew them had. Harry suspected that Fred and George would be collecting some money once this got out, they were sure to have been betting on it.

It was a very disheveled Ron Weasley that returned to the Common Room an hour later, holding Hermione's hand, and trying not to ignore that fact his plan had worked perfectly, at least in his own mind, and that he and Hermione were now together. There was only one thing which could ruin his mood at the moment, and unfortunately they were curled up together on a couch, clearly still kissing each other, without a care in the world.


	5. The One I Miss The Most

_The WoLf At BaY, Leigh (my beta), and Freckles proudly present Chapter Five:_

_The One I Miss the Most_

It's funny the way time seems to speed up when you want it to slow down, and slow down when you want it to speed up. Harry Potter was having a difficult time deciding which way he wanted his time to go by. Half of him wanted his life to slow down, so he would have more time with Ginny, the other half wanted things to speed up, so he could get the Second Task over with, as a result his world was moving faster or slower, relative to his current mood. It was rather disturbing, having his live speeding by one moment, when he was with Ginny, and crawling by the next, when he wasn't.

One way or another February came all too soon, and Harry still had no idea how he was going to breathe underwater for an hour. He had figured out the clue in the Prefect's bathroom, thanks to Cedric Diggory, but he had spent almost every waking moment in the library, trying to find a spell that would help. He had even gone whole days without kissing Ginny once, which really disturbed him.

Harry had no idea how things had come to this, even learning the Summoning Charm for the first task hadn't been this bad, at least he'd been _doing_ something, the Second Task was tomorrow, and he still had no idea what he was going to do. Ron had long since gone to bed, and Hermione and Ginny had been summoned to a meeting with Professor McGonagall, and then to bed, he presumed. He didn't blame them for leaving, it was nearly one A.M. and this was his problem, not theirs. The book Harry was reading was getting closer and closer, his exhausted mind was incapable of figuring out that he was leaning forward, and soon his eyes closed.

"Harry Potter sir!"

Harry was violently awoken by something small and loud jumping onto him, something familiar.

"D-D-D-Dobby?" Having just been awoken rather rudely, Harry's mind was still fuzzy.

"Yes it is Dobby, Harry Potter sir! Dobby has been hoping and waiting to see Harry Potter, and tonight he has! But you is looking worried Harry Potter sir! What is being wrong?"

"I need to find a way to breathe under water for an hour, in the next," Harry checked his watch "four hours."

"Harry Potter could use Gillyweed sir!"

"Gillyweed?"

"Yes sir! Dobby was in the staff room, gathering robes to be cleaned, and Dobby heard Professor Moody talking to Professor McGonagall, and they was mentioning Gillyweed sir!"

"And I'll be able to breath under water? Are you sure Dobby?" It was almost too good to be true.

"Yes Harry Potter sir! Dobby is sure sir!"

"Do you know where I can get some fast?"

"Dobby knows Professor Snape keeps some in his private stores, Dobby will get it for you, Harry Potter sir!"

There was a loud snap, and Dobby was gone, annoying as the small elf could be at times, Harry would be eternally grateful if Dobby managed to save him. It was extremely lucky for him that Dobby had shown up, almost too lucky, but he wasn't about to complain, especially if it worked. Harry gave up waiting for Dobby, after twenty minutes, he was once again using _Strange talents you never knew you had and what to do now you've wised up_ as a pillow, it was a really comfortable book.

Harry was awoken ten minutes before the task was due to start by Neville Longbottom, who still seemed a little nervous around him, having seen that Harry was awake, Neville had quickly moved back.

"Harry, the task's about to start, you've got to get down to the lake, oh and some house elf told me to give you this? Do you know what it is?"

Neville was holding a small envelope out to him, a very lumpy looking one.

"Yeah its Gillyweed, I need it for the task, thanks Neville."

"Gillyweed? Have you got to breathe underwater then?"

"Wait, you know what Gillyweed is?"

"Course I do Harry, Herbology is my favourite subject, remember?"

Neville was left to stare after Harry, who had taken off down the stairs; he had a task to get too. He was feeling remarkably calm, but mentally kicking himself for not thinking to ask Neville in the first place, he knew Neville was a Herbology expert, and he had known the answer, it would have saved him days. Harry was sprinting over the lawns now, heading for the lake where he could see stands set up, as well as a platform that extended out over the water. The other champions were gathered there, as well as the judges, Madame Pomfry, Hagrid, Professors McGonagall and Moody.

"Ah," said Dumbledore "our fourth and youngest champion has arrived, let us begin. Sonorous!"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Second Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament! In today's task our champions will be required to make their way to the bottom of the lake, and to retrieve something very dear to them. They have one hour to complete the task, once all of the champions have returned, a representative of the Merpeople will tell us what has transpired beneath the surface. Quietus"

Filch set off the cannon, early again, and Cedric, Krum, and Fleur all began casting spells and charms, before diving into the lake. Harry knew he must look like a fool, just standing there chewing, but Neville had told him a little about Gillyweed, and he needed to wait for the herb to take effect.

Fifteen minutes later found Harry, now equipped with gills and fins, swimming through the lake, following the faint sound of the Merpeople's song. Another fifteen minutes and he arrived on the outskirts of what appeared to be the village he was looking for, there were crude shelters and he saw glimpses of Merpeople swimming in the shadows.

At the centre of the 'town' there was a large rock, a monolith of stone, but it wasn't the rock that concerned him, it was the small redhead tied to it. Harry very nearly panicked when he saw Ginny floating, pale and apparently lifeless, in the water. It was almost exactly as she had looked in the Chamber of Secrets, she looked _dead_, and it wasn't something he could handle seeing again. Fortunately reason took over; Dumbledore wouldn't allow anyone to be hurt in this contest, least of all someone who wasn't even supposed to be a part of it. Harry's nerves calmed slightly, but he still didn't want to see Ginny looking like this any more then he had too, fortunately he had come prepared, and the small knife he was carrying made short work of the seaweed rope holding the pale redhead in place.

He could see daylight now, he was nearly at the surface, even though his gills and fins were fading, he should be able to make it. Harry was just thinking that, once he found out how, this task was actually pretty easy, when things got complicated, naturally. The shadows were his first indication that he was being stalked, he knew something, or_something's_, were swimming around him, faster then he could, especially while he was dragging Ginny. One of the creatures, whatever they were, struck him in the back, hard, forcing the air from him, and causing him to nearly loose his grip on Ginny. Harry tried to fire a hex at it, but his movement was far too restricted by the extra deadweight he was carrying.

Harry had tried to make it to the surface, but between pulling Ginny up with him, and the numerous water monsters attacking him, he had barely moved ten feet. He was getting desperate, and in his desperation, had come up with a plan that might work, or at least would get Ginny out of danger, just as long as she woke up once she broke the surface, and the Banishing Charm didn't break her.

The spell hit her dead-on, propelling her to the top of the lake, Harry tried to watch what happened to her, but as soon as she was out of his arms, he was attacked in earnest by the creatures. They were slamming into him, kicking, punching, biting and pulling him down.

Just as he sure he wouldn't make it, his lungs were burning from the lack of air, the attack stopped. Harry looked around franticly, but could not spot his attackers, he was just starting to lunge for the surface, when a much larger shadow crossed him, one with many long tentacles, the Giant Squid had found him.

Ginny did indeed awaken once her head was clear of the water, and it only took her half a moment to remember what had happened last night, and why she was in a freezing lake. She spun around, Harry should be next to her, he had just saved her, and by the volume level of the cheers from the crowd he was the first one back, but she could not find him, instead she swam towards the platform, intent on retrieving her wand and going after him. But she never made it two steps out of the water before Madame Pomfry had her, and even the fiery redhead knew when she was beaten, this was one of those times.

Harry knew that the mammoth squid was indeed circling him, and he thought about what he knew about the creature, or about squids in general. _Hmm, squids live in salt water don__'__t they? I wonder how this one survives in fresh water? Maybe that__'__s why its angry all the time? It just wants to be in the ocean? _ A wild idea had just occurred to Harry, even more unlikely then using a Banishing Charm to propel Ginny out of the lake, the transfiguration was a bit complex, but he might be able to pull it off, and who knew, maybe the Giant Squid would even be grateful.

Pointing straight down into the lake, Harry tried to shout "Asendio" but all that came out was a stream of bubbles. To his amazement though, the spell worked, and propelled him to the surface, where he was quickly pulled onto the platform by Professor Dumbledore. He hoped that no one would be too upset by the large concentration of salt water that was now in the lake, he had managed to transfigure some of the water into sea-water, which, to his amazement, the Giant Squid had loved, instantly forgetting about trying to eat Harry.

Madame Pomfry was trying to check him over, but Harry didn't really care about himself at the moment, he just wanted to make sure Ginny was alright, which a few, longer then necessary kisses, drawing whistles from the crowd, quickly confirmed.

A look around the platform, now that he was sure, really, really sure, that Ginny was alright, showed him to be the only champion back, and a good four minutes under the time limit, he might just have won this one.

"The judges have awarded marks out of twenty-five as follows, in fourth place, Miss Fleur Delacour, who demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-head Charm, but was unable to secure her hostage, the judge's award her, fifteen points."

This announcement was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, mostly the male portion.

"In third place, Mr. Viktor Krum, who used a remarkable, but incomplete form of Transfiguration, the judges award him, twenty points."

There was more cheering from the male portion of the crowd, those that were Quidditch fans anyway,

"In second place, Mr. Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-head Charm, but returned two minutes outside of the time limit, we award him twenty-two points."

The entire population of Hogwarts exploded in applause.

"And finally, in first place, Mr. Harry Potter, who used Gillyweed to great effect, as well as a non-verbal Ascension Charm, and was the only champion to return inside the time limit, we award him… Full Marks!"

Everyone was cheering now, not just Hogwarts, Harry saw that even the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were on their feet. Only one of the unquantifiable mass of cheering teenagers mattered to Harry at the moment, he only had eyes for her, and the rest might as well have not been there as he took Ginny in his arms and kissed her. Even though it was February, and they were both outside and soaked to the bone, her touch still brought him warmth. Neither of them even heard the whistles and cat-calls of their fellow students.

**A/N****—****I know I know, but chapters will be kind of on the short side until I finish GoF, I just don****'****t want to retype J.K.****'****s book, once we hit the summer things will get longer, and OotP will not follow canon too much, so expect longer chaps. Also I'll be jumping straight to the Third Task for the next chapter. So this is almost the entire spring: if we hit 30 reviews i'll give you an extra chapter, with lots of H/G, Some Ron/Hermione, and either some RL/NT or a little action, cmon its only 12! **

**Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and everyone else go to class. Ron and Hermione are still mad at Harry and Ginny, The Plan continues, unsuccessfully, and Malfoy gets hexed a few times. Ginny helps Harry practice for the maze, but Ron and Hermione don****'****t, so Harry****'****s a little less prepared than in canon- oops, spoiler!**

**B/N Sorry about the delay in putting this chapter up, entirely my fault for being fussy so don't blame the author blame me.**


	6. Valentines Day

-1"_I wait and watch from the shadows, biding my time, waiting for my moment. You have your fun, your happiness and heartbreaks, your triumphs and tragedies, and then one day, when all you are is about to fade away, you__'__ll let it go, and follow me, to fight the darkness rising.__"—__One Troubled Author. _

The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles proudly present Chapter 6:

Valentines Day

A/N- ok this is a special chapter, rated M+ for a little girl-on-girl violence, language, and some sexual suggestions, but don't worry this is gonna be a fluffer-nutter sandwich.

Valentines Day truly is remarkable, such happiness, such love in the air. This could not be truer for one Harry James Potter, who was deeply in love. He was more in love, after two months, then most couples are after years, and he knows it, and the people around him know it. The object of his affections, a fiery young redhead known as Ginny Weasley, or Gin-Gin to her brothers, returns his sentiments with an equal if not greater passion.

It is a somewhat well-known fact at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that the easiest way to get hurt, if you are a girl, is to make a move on Harry Potter, if you are a boy, stay far away from Ginny Weasley. For both are the jealous type, both are very protective, and can be very powerful when upset. The two are completely devoted to each other, and they couldn't be happier, well maybe if someone's brother would stop being such a part.

Ronald Weasley was still fuming at the supposed 'betrayal' of his best friend. He had been trying, over the last two months, to get Harry to realize the error of his ways. His plan was rather good, Harry considered Hermione a sister, therefore the sight of his best friend snogging his honorary sister ought to give Harry a good idea of how Ron was feeling, but it wasn't.

If anything Harry seemed to _happy_ about him and Hermione, and Ron had to admit, he wasn't doing it just to get Harry mad at him anymore, he hadn't for a while, he was doing it because of the growing suspicion that he might be in love with Hermione Granger. Much as that thought scared him, he was fourteen for god's sake, it was undeniable that he was happier now then he could ever remember being, and it was completely due to his girlfriend.

The betraying best friend in question was currently sitting out by the lake with the baby sister in question, engaging in an activity that the older brother certainly would not approve of. Especially since one could barely tell where one ended and the other began, they were entwined so closely together as they kissed, very passionately. After several, oxygen-deficient minutes, Harry came up for air, nearly laughing at the pouting redhead beneath him, instead of going back to kissing her, as was his first instinct, he laid back, pulling her close up against his side, reflecting.

Harry was amazed by the girl lying next to him, he had no idea that she was so, fiery, impetuous, spunky, devious, all of these words fit, but none of them was perfect. Harry suspected that no single word could describe his love, so he was going to have to come up with several.

"What did I ever do to deserve you Gin?" asked Harry. He had been wondering for two months, and couldn't come up with answer.

"It's not what you've done, it's who you are." Ginny answered.

Harry had to ponder this for a while, which he was more then happy to do with Ginny wrapped around him. When he finally did understand, or thought he did, he rolled over and began kissing Ginny again, marvelling at just how happy she could make him. He didn't remember ever being truly happy before he came to Hogwarts, he supposed that he had been happy with his parents, but the only part of that he could remember was the night they had been killed.

Harry had never known happiness with his aunt and uncle; they had never wanted him too. Then he had come to Hogwarts, met Ron and Hermione, played Quidditch, and had an adventure, he had been happy then, for the first time he could remember.

But now, now was something different, something more, he felt not only happy, but content as well, as if he could spend the rest of his life like this, and at the moment, spending the rest of his life lazing about with Ginny seemed like a very good idea; especially if she kept kissing him like this.

Many people at Hogwarts witnessed how happy Harry and Ginny were together, including one French part-Veela, who had found the young man quite extraordinary, especially while she was in the lake, Harry had been able to save that skinny little redhead, and she hadn't been able to save her own sister. Fleur had heard stories of the boy's other exploits while at school and of course everyone knew the story of The-Boy-Who-Lived. That silly little girl would never be able to hold onto him against a mature, attractive Veela.

Harry was thoroughly enjoying Valentines Day; it had gone perfectly so far:

_He and Ginny were walking side by side, as they had been doing for the last hour or so, around the Great Lake. They weren't talking, they didn't need too, just walking together, holding hands, and being together was what they both wanted. They had settled, eventually, at a small, cosy spot near the far edge of the lake, away from the castle and almost in the shade of the forest. A small cluster of shrubs and a few small trees formed a very private clearing, one that was almost impossible to see into, and all one could see from the inside was the lake. The couple had spent over an hour there, just sitting and talking, occasionally kissing, until Ginny had moved very suddenly, practically throwing herself to the back of one of the trees. Harry wondering what she had seen, and if it was anything to worry about, when he saw she was waving him over, beaming. He moved over to her, looking curiously at the three trunks. These trees, and this spot, must have been older then he thought, for there, in the bark of the tree were carved the words: "JP&LE Forever" _

"_James Potter and Lily Evans Forever." Whispered Harry, hardly daring to hope that he had found, or rather that Ginny had found, a remnant of his parents, and a monument to their love. _

_Harry never realized that he had tears in his eyes, he just took out his wand, and carefully began casting small Severing Hexes, adding a new message: HP&GW Forever"_

"_Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley Forever." This time it was Ginny who whispered, there were no tears in her eyes though, this was a different kind of special. She felt the need to kiss Harry then, but it wasn't the right moment; that would come later, right now they both just needed to be with each other, in silence._

It had been the perfect day, and the beautiful sunset they got to watch as they walked back to the castle only made the day more complete; Especially when Harry told Ginny that the sunset was no where near as beautiful as her, which made her blush as dark as the last rays of light peaking through the clouds. Now was the time for her to kiss him, which she did. It was almost as perfect as their first kiss. They were standing alone on the grounds, on a small rise, in each others arms, and the last rays of daylight caught them perfectly, outlining them, making Ginny's hair appear to glow as she kissed the man she loved, and who loved her.

The rest of the walk back to the castle may have taken a minute or a month, neither Harry nor Ginny had any idea, and neither cared; as long as they were together, time had no meaning. They both thought that nothing could possibly ruin this perfect day, and they were right, but a jealous Veela could sure try.

Fleur Delacour was seething, and for a Veela, that's really saying something. She was scary, and many of the younger Hogwarts students were scared, running out of her way at breakfast. The target, and cause, of her rage: Ginny Weasley. That foolish little girl had spent the entire day with Potter, how was Fleur to charm him if she couldn't even talk to him, what did he even see in such a skinny thing? Fleur had a plan for dealing with the young redhead, and not a very nice one, but she wanted what she wanted, and she always got what she wanted. Her Veela charms hadn't failed her yet, and special though he may be, Harry Potter was still just a boy, and no boy could resist a Delacour.

She saw her chance to act as Potter and his little wench walked into the Entrance Hall, holding hands, as always, and looking sickeningly happy together. Fleur turned on her Veela charm as much as she could, she could see boys on the third floor being affected by it, and approached the couple.

"Oh 'ello 'Arry! Happy Valentines Day!" Fleur was flashing her most seductive smile at the younger boy, fully expecting him to be drooling over her in seconds. To her utter astonishment he appeared to be unaffected by her charms and replied rather coldly.

"Happy Valentines Day Fleur, excuse me." He just walked past, the wench on his arm.

Fleur was dumbfounded, no boy, or man, had ever been able to resist her, it simply was not possible, and it frustrated her to no end. It is a little known fact that when Veela, or part-Veela, are angered, their animalistic side comes out, and caused serious lapses in judgment. This is especially true for French Veela, and Fleur Delacour was no exception.

The angry blonde twirled on the spot, intent on breaking up the happy couple no matter what it took, unfortunately her thoughts were clouded by her anger and frustration, so the logical approach to the situation is far from what actually happened.

"You stupid boy! How are you not attracted to me? No one can say no to my charms, and I am certainly better looking than that little slag you carry around like a toy!"

Fleur was red in the face already, which every boy, many of which were now watching, thought made her look more beautiful. She intended to continue her tirade, but got no further as a powerful Stinging Hex caught her shoulder.

"Watch your mouth, Fleur." Harry's tone was clam and even, but clearly threatening, and even the angry Veela was slightly cowed by it. The scarier of the pair quickly became Ginny, as she figured out exactly what the older girl was going on about, and became a sight to rival any angry Veela, or surpass it.

"You call me a slag? I'm not the one using Veela magic to try and entice a boy I barely know because he's famous, not that I would have to entice Harry anyway, but you're really a slut. I guess it's true what the Americans say: French men are useless, and French women are only good for one thing." Ginny followed up this pronouncement with several hexes, the most notable of which being her trademark Bat Bogey Hex.

Unfortunately Fleur, whatever else she may be, was a gifted witch, and was able to counter Ginny's hex before it got too serious. Ginny, seeing this, threw her wand to Harry and simply spear-tackled the older girl to the floor, and began smacking her across the face repeatedly.

Fleur, now even more upset at the slur against her nation, reciprocated, and soon a full-blown girl-on-girl fist-fight was in full swing. Though there were now dozens of people watching no one seemed inclined to stop the fight, most of the observers being boys, and Harry knowing better then to be in front of Ginny when the redhead was this angry.

Harry, and about half of the male population of the school, were watching the fight, mostly in a state of awe; Fleur hadn't had stopped using her Veela charms. It was only now that Professor Moody showed up, doubtless drawn from his office by the two girl's screams. However the scared Auror did nothing to stop the brawl, and was actually watching with a look on his face akin to that of many of the students.

Harry was earning glares from every boy in the school the next day, literally every boy. He sighed in resignation as he entered the Great Hall to a loud chorus' of "Boo's", clearly no one but him was happy about his breaking up the fight an hour ago.

_Harry had seen enough, he needed to get Ginny out of there before Fleur got hurt, well hurt worse. Judging by the short glimpses he was getting, Fleur's personal appearance was going downhill fast. _ He watched as Ginny landed another open palmed smack across the Veela's face, adding to an already swelling black eye. As the two wrestled around some more, Fleur now desperately trying to get the vicious redhead off of her, Harry noticed the growing crowd, and the fact that this must be quite a show for the boys of Hogwarts.

Harry knew very well that he was taking his life into his own hands, again, as he grabbed Ginny around the middle and ran as hard as he could down an empty corridor with her. Once they were out view of the Hall he set her back on her feet, using his Seeker reflexes to duck under Ginny's swinging fist.

"Hey Gin it's me, I'm sorry I stopped you but you were going to seriously hurt her." Harry said, trying to dig himself out of the hole he knew he was in. However the revelation that she was winning the fight only seemed to anger Ginny further, causing her to begin screaming at Harry as well. However her words were lost on him, as Harry could only think about how amazingly beautiful Ginny looked when she was angry. As much as he enjoyed watching her riled up, the fact that her fury was directed at him led him to better reason, and an attempt to clam her rage. Fortunately for Harry, he knew the only good way to calm Ginny down when she was like this; something that Fred and George had tried very hard to find out.

Ginny was in full rage-mode, making her mother seem positively pleasant, going off like never before on her boyfriend. It wasn't really his fault, she was mad at that French tramp, but angry redheads, much like angry Veela, aren't known for thinking clearly. Especially when the object of their affections shoves them into an empty classroom and begins kissing them furiously, which was what Harry was doing to her right now, causing her to forget her anger, as she lost herself in him. Her last conscious thought had something to do with revenge on a certain Veela, and just how amazing her boyfriend was.

'_So much better then a fairy tale…' _Thought Ginny just before she forgot what day it was, Harry really was an amazing kisser.

**A/N—well at the time that I'm posting this we haven't yet hit 30 reviews, and I don't care, I'm not going to bribe or black mail you, and this really is a good chapter, enjoy it, thanks to my beta Leigh, for suggesting that I write a little fluff in, and thanks to who ever wrote "Harry Potter and the Ashes of Hope" read that story! for the Fleur idea, not an exact copy, but Gabrielle is way to young, thanks any way. **


	7. The Last Task

-1_"__Scars heal, glory fades, and all we__'__re left with are the memories made, Pain hurts, but only for a minute, life is short so go on and live it, __'__cause the chicks dig it.__"__–__ Chicks Dig It, By Chris Cagel _

The WoLf At Bay, Leigh (beta), and Freckles proudly present chapter 7:

The Last Task

Scars do indeed heal, but only with the passing of time, and three months was hardly enough time to repair Fleur's features. Only the black eye was left, but it was very prominent against her pale skin and blonde hair. Many were of the opinion that Ginny might have put some kind of twin-invented charm on her first before the fight, surely no normal black eye could last that long.

March, April, and May had passed all too quickly for Harry, mainly in a blur of long, romantic weekends with Ginny, studying curses for the up-coming Third Task, and trying to avoid walking into a broom closet that Ron and Hermione were in. Harry didn't even think they were doing it on purpose any more, as they seemed genuinely annoyed when interrupted. He was happy for his two ex-best friends, there had been a betting pool going around Gryffindor Tower since the beginning of their third year on when the two would get together. No one was sure who had won yet. Harry only wished that he could be a part of his friend's happiness, but Ron needed to grow up first, and Hermione would follow him; that was the only reason she was mad at him anyway, because Ron was upset.

Harry filled his time with Ginny; he loved spending time with her, and preparing for the maze that he would have to get through in two weeks time. Professor McGonagall had given him and Ginny permission to use her classroom during their free time, but Harry wished he had Hermione to help him as well, she was much better for researching and learning spells. Ginny was more fun though, albeit a bit distracting, not that Harry was complaining.

While Harry kissed and practiced, others where worrying, especially Sirius Black. Sirius had been very worried since September; people did not change the rules of a centuries-old contest to enter the most famous fourteen year old in the wizarding world by accident. Someone wanted Harry in that tournament, and as nothing had happened yet, clearly something was going to happen during the Third Task. Which was why Sirius Black was hiding out in Hogsmeade; only three people knew he was there, Dumbledore, Harry, and one other.

The other in question was an Auror instructor from abroad; he had helped train James and Sirius during the first war, and had been Dumbledore's apprentice at one time. No one knew much about him, except that he was not a man to get on the wrong side of, especially in a fight. Sirius had found the man, and requested his presence during the Task, if something was going to happen, then Sirius would help his godson, and he wanted someone around to help and not try to arrest him on sight. '_Thank Merlin for old friends_.' Thought Sirius as he scrounged for a newspaper.

There was no way that he wasn't going to have backup around when whoever was pulling the strings finally made their move, and so much the better if his backup just happened be one of the best fighters in the world, with a staggering record from the American Magical Combat Force. That was where he and James had met the man, on an exchange program with the Auror Service, only the AMCF, as they were known, proved to be much tougher then the Aurors, Sirius and James had nearly died on their first day from exhaustion, while their trainer was complaining about "taking a light day". Both Marauders had quickly learned that the Americans took things very seriously, no hesitation to train killers to take out Dark Wizards.

Sirius had a suspicion that his old friend was one of those trained specifically to kill, but had never been able to confirm it, it wasn't a subject the man liked to discuss, not that he talked much at all, or interacted with people for that matter. It was almost startling the way he was always standing in the shadows, waiting, watching, ready to react to the threat at a moments notice; and it had saved both of their lives several times, and was probably the only reason that Lily had had time to save Harry as a baby, because he had bought it for her.

It wasn't that Sirius didn't have faith in his godson, Harry had gotten himself out of more trouble then Sirius and James combined had managed to get into. It was his girlfriend that presented the complication. Not Ginny herself; Sirius knew the Weasley's, he knew that they were good, loving people, and exactly what Harry needed, also he had never seen Harry happier then the last time they had met, only a few weeks after the two had started dating, and he was really looking forward to meeting the young witch today. The problem was that Sirius had the sneaking suspicion that Harry was in love, he had all the same signs as James, and he had even fallen for a redhead. This was not necessarily a bad thing, except that love can cloud ones judgment, and if there was one thing Harry was really going to need, it was his judgment, preferably un-obscured by redheaded women. Sirius was not about to try to separate the two, he could never betray Harry like that, but he was going to keep a close eye on them, especially when Harry was keeping an eye on her, which was most of the time.

Just how much time Harry J. Potter spent looking at Ginny M. Weasley became apparent as the couple tried to walk down the road towards the large black dog, but was constantly impeded by Harry, who was bumping into things due to his lack of concentration on anything other than Ginny. Even the sight of his godfather at the end of the road could not rouse him to take his eyes off of her. Sirius smiled to himself despite the young man's clumsiness, if he wasn't in love, no one ever would be. Once the two teens had managed to make it to the end of the lane Sirius turned and led them down a familiar footpath, to the same cave that they had used previously.

"Sirius!" Harry shouted as he enveloped his godfather in a hug.

"How've you been?"

"Oh I've been alright, Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, has been really good about leaving food out, so I'm officially off the rat diet. But forget about me, you've got to introduce me to your _girlfriend_." He put the extra emphasis on the word 'girlfriend' in an attempt to embarrass Harry, who actually swelled with pride instead of blushing. _'__I wonder what I should wear to the wedding__'_thought Sirius as he was filled in on everything the two felt he needed to know about Ginny.

"Well I'll tell you," said Sirius when they were through "you Potters sure can pick 'em. I don't suppose you'd be surprised to learn that Ginny is almost exactly like you mum was at that age? Right down to that look she gives you when you talk about her like she's not there, like the one she's giving me now."

Ginny was indeed giving Sirius an annoyed look, which Harry actually found a little exciting. He would have to remember it for later, but this was, unfortunately, a business call, not a social one.

"So Sirius what do you think about the Third Task?" asked Ginny once the introductions and joking was done.

"Well Dumbledore is insisting that everything is fine, and that you're perfectly safe, but someone went to a lot of trouble to get you into the maze, and I have no doubt that this is the one they've been waiting for. Watch you back Harry, Ginny you help him, and I'll be keeping an eye out as well, and don't trust anyone. About the Task itself, what have you been practicing?"

"Stunning, a little conjuring, a few Blasting Curses, that's really all we could think of." Answered Harry weakly, he had been working hard, but it didn't sound like much when said out loud.

"Well, Stunning and Blasting will definitely come in handy, and conjuring too, I bet. Do you feel confident?"

"Well yeah, I mean I've done more to prepare for this task then the other two combined."

"Good, then the battles half won." Replied Sirius.

Surprisingly they still had a few hours until Harry and Ginny needed to be back, so they spent the remainder of the afternoon more garrulously, exchanging news, and Harry enduring much teasing from Sirius about his girlfriend, and the fact that, as Sirius put it: "Your dating a thirteen year-old version of your own mother!" which he found hilarious. Harry didn't mind the similarity that much though, everyone was always telling him, with the exception of the Dursley's, how wonderful his mother had been, and Harry was happy that people saw Ginny in the same light. It might have sounded weird to others, but, at times, Ginny could be almost like a mother to him, it was the way she was always able to calm him down, make him feel better, and make him forget what he was worrying about. It wasn't something he thought about often, as he spent a good deal of time kissing the girl in question, and that could lead to some really weird thoughts.

"Hey Harry, think you can wait outside for a little while? I'd like to talk with Ginny alone, if you don't mind."

"Trying to steal my girlfriend Padfoot?" asked Harry jokingly as he headed outside.

"No just trying to get some quality time with my future goddaughter-in-law!"Sirius called after him, causing both teens to blush.

"So Ginny, I take it that Harry has told you all about his life? His time at the Dursley's, and his first three years at Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, I think he's told me more about himself than anyone else. More than even you know. He trusts me, and I trust him so don't ask me what I know about him that you don't." answered Ginny.

"Good," said Sirius "he needs someone he can confide in, and someone to trust. Harry's biggest weakness is that for ten years of his life, he was completely unloved, he needs love, more then anything else, and it seems to me that you two are in love. I'm happy for you, but I'm going to ask you not to let any of the usual teenage quarrels come between you."

"Oh don't worry about that, Harry is much to devoted to me to ever disagree with me, about anything." Ginny replied impishly.

Sirius wasn't sure how he felt about his godson being wrapped around his girlfriend's finger, but if Harry was happy, he was happy. He walked Ginny back out, quickly transforming and accompanying his godson and future goddaughter-in-law back to the village. Sirius' only regret regarding the young couple was that he couldn't be around more to tease them, and do all the other things that James had made him promise to do when his son started dating, someone was going to have to give Harry 'The Talk', and somehow Sirius didn't think it should be done in a small cave.

Harry and Ginny made their way back up to the school, enjoying the time alone, just being together and fooling around, making the walk take much longer than it needed to be. Harry enjoyed these times with his girlfriend, when he could really forget everything that was bothering him, and just enjoy being a normal kid for a while. But it couldn't last forever, the Third Task was looming nearer, and with it the end of the Tournament, hopefully Harry would emerge from the maze unscathed, and, with a little luck, in first place.

The day of the task was nearly upon them, and the tension in the castle could be felt in the air, everyone was anxious to see who would emerge victorious, and which school would hold the trophy. Fortunately no animosity had manifested itself between the students, mostly because everyone was holding their breath for the last hurdle, figuratively speaking.

Harry was spending less and less time in broom closets with Ginny, and more and more time in the library, much to his dismay. But once the task was behind him he'd have a lot more time to spend on Ginny, especially since he was excused from his exams, all he had to do was make it through the maze without landing himself in the Hospital Wing and he'd be free for two wonderful weeks with nothing but one beautiful redhead to occupy his time. He was going to have to find a way to get her out of some classes, but if he could get past a Hungarian Horntail, sneaking his girlfriend out of class should be no problem.

In the week leading up to the task it seemed that time was flying by, one minute he was eating breakfast in the Great Hall, the next minute he was returning to the common room after researching spells in the library. This trend of faster-then-normal time continued until Friday morning, the day of the Last Task. Harry found himself sitting at breakfast, Ginny beside him, desperately trying to get him to eat something.

"Mr. Potter!" Harry jumped when he heard the voice of his head of house calling his name. "Mr. Potter, the champions are meeting in the room off of the entrance hall-"

"But Professor, the Task's not until tonight." Interrupted Harry, fearing that he had mistaken the time of the task.

"I'm aware of that Mr. Potter, however the champion's families have been invited to the school to watch the Third Task tonight, and they are waiting for you." McGonagall said as she left, apparently annoyed at having been interrupted.

"See you later." Harry said to Ginny as he got up. He knew that no one was coming to watch him, the Dursley's wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near Hogwarts, but he was going to anyway.

To his immense surprise, he found Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie waiting for him. Mrs. Weasley quickly pulled him into one of her famous hugs, but Harry was a little scared by the way that Bill and Charlie were looking at him, especially given that he was dating their sister.

"Uh hi bill, Charlie." Started Harry nervously, before nearly identical grins broke out on the older Weasley's faces.

"Don't look so scared Harry." Said Bill.

"Yeah if Fred and George aren't going to hurt for dating Ginny, we won't." said Charlie.

"Besides," added Bill "I'm not so sure we could take you anyway, Mr. I-made-a-Hungarian-Horntail-look-slow. From what I heard you embarrassed that dragon."

"Thanks but it really wasn't that hard, easier then playing Quidditch in the rain anyway." Said Harry modestly.

Harry spent the rest of the day much more enjoyably then he thought he, would. Excused from his classes, he gave the visiting Weasley's his expert tour of the castle, sharing stories from his past exploits when they passed relevant areas of interest. The only downside of the day was that he wasn't going to be able to snog Ginny too much with her two oldest brothers and her mother there. They all enjoyed lunch together, apart from Ron and Hermione, who were still refusing to talk to Harry, or Ginny, even in the presence of Ron's mother.

All too soon Harry was being called down to the renovated Quidditch Pitch by Professor Moody, only giving him a brief moment with his family before the task began.

"Be careful Harry," said a nearly-in-tears Mrs. Weasley as she hugged him. "But don't worry I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah," added Bill. "We'll expect to be seeing you with that trophy in about ten minute's tops, or were planning on letting the other champions have a chance?"

Ginny had tried to give him a rather heated good luck kiss, but it was cut very short by the presence of Bill and Charlie. Harry suspected that the life-threatening challenge in front of him was the only reason he wasn't being hexed badly. Ginny had been rather, affectionate, with that kiss, or she had tried to be.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Hogwarts students, staff, and our distinguished guests," called the magically magnified voice of Albus Dumbledore. "And welcome to the Third and final Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament! In tonight's task, our champions will have to navigate their way to the Tri-Wizard Cup at the centre of the maze, overcoming varies obstacles that they will encounter. The first champion to touch the cup will receive full marks. As he is currently in first place, Mr. Potter will go first, on the cannon Harry."

When Filch set of the cannon, early again, Harry took off at a dead run, alternating left and right turns so that he was heading in a fairly constant direction, hopefully one that was taking him closer to the centre of the maze. After about five minutes of running, and encountering nothing, Harry began to wonder if he wasn't going in circles; surely he should have run into something by now? Knowing Hagrid there where sure to be some large, dangerous creatures in the maze, but Harry had yet to see anything but hedge rows.

Ten more minutes had seen Harry through a golden mist that made everything appear upside down, and past a Sphinx with a riddle, which he had had surprisingly little trouble with. The Sphinx had told him that he was near the Cup, so Harry was running again, desperately thinking that he might still win the tournament. He rounded another corner and saw it, another hundred or so yards and he would have it. Harry took off, sprinting as hard as he could, he was so close he could practically feel the handle in his hand, and then he really could, Harry felt the cup in his hands, he had done it, he had won, just before the familiar jerk behind the naval let him know he had activated the Port-key.

Harry soon found himself tied to a gravestone by Wormtail, watching his parent's betrayer resurrect their murderer. Harry watched as Voldemort was reborn, and summoned his Death Eaters. Harry recognized about half of them, mostly the fathers of certain Slytherins. Voldemort then explained his thirteen year exile, and subsequent return, before untying Harry, returning his wand to him, and informing him that he was about to duel with Lord Voldemort.

Harry never once thought of backing down, or trying to flee, or giving up. He stood before the most powerful Dark Wizard in history, wand in hand, tall and proud, just as his father had, with thoughts of the woman he loved in his head. Only Harry was not going to die tonight, he was going to do whatever it took to get back to Ginny. He was going to avenge his parents if he could. Harry faced Voldemort, mentally going over everything he knew or had ever heard about the monster. He knew Voldemort liked to toy with his victims, and knew that he would certainly try when faced with a fourteen year old boy. Pride was a weakness and one that Harry was practiced at using against Draco Malfoy. His opponent confirmed his strategy when he tried to force Harry to bow him, during which time Harry himself began firing the most powerful stunning spells he knew at Voldemort. Who dodged all of them, but not very quickly as he used his wand to deflect the last two.

"Now Harry, that wasn't very sporting of you, attacking me before the duel formally began, not very fair at all." hissed Voldemort.

"Fair means I live and you die, nothing more, nothing less." Answered Harry just before launching a volley of Reductor Curses, one of which actually hit the Dark Lord, opening a cut across his arm.

Voldemort hissed in pain, clutching his injured arm, he cast several Cruciartus Curses at Harry, who managed to duck the first two, but not the third. It was pain beyond imagining, Harry felt like his very blood was burning him, there was no part of him that didn't hurt, agony beyond reckoning caused his body to spasm, and it was all he could do not to scream in pain. Harry knew he was going to die, death would be so much better then this, so much easier, except he would not see Ginny again. Suddenly his mind's eye was filled with images of Ginny, and his feelings for her. At almost the same time, he felt the pain leaving his body, and the spasms stopped.

"Well, well, well, it seems that little Potter has himself a girlfriend, I believe you have met her Lucius, you gave her my diary. But never mind that now, we can always kill her later, interesting that you were able to throw off the curse Potter, but it wont save you AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort screamed the Killing Curse at him, and Harry did the only thing that made sense to him, he raised his wand to try to block that which he knew was unblockable.

**A/N: well I was reading through this chapter, trying to decide how to end it without hitting 20,000 words, not that any of you would mind, and I thought to myself: 'self, self, SELF! Now that I have my attention, finally, why not just end the chapter here, nice little cliffhanger, I should get lots of nice, polite reviews telling me to go to hell.' So that's what I'm doing. Next chapter will cover till the middle of summer, and be about the same length as this one, no Priori Incantatum though.**

**Now onto Sirius matters, I am going to bring him into the story, your going to vote on who he should date.**

**Tonks**

**Madame Rosmerta**

**O.C.**

**McGonagall**

**And now onto serious matters, I'm going to kill someone, sorry, you pick who, if no one votes I kill Harry and everyone else in a horrible bloodbath and end the story. Your choices are:**

**Harry**

**Ginny**

**Sirius**

**Ron**

**Hermione**

**Tonks**

**Remus Lupin**

**Mrs. Weasley **

_**Of course I may choose to completely ignore your votes and kill off whoever I want, have fun!!!!**_

_**The WoLf At BaY**_


	8. Redheads and Rats

"_There is always a little more to see, if only we know where to look.__"__-- Proverb_

The WoLf At BaY, my beta Leigh, and a very worried Freckles proudly present Chapter 8:

**Redheads and Rats**

For thousands of years men have fought among themselves, battling for power, or money, land, or honour. Cities have been destroyed; whole civilizations have been wiped from history. Through all of the carnage that is human history, good men have stood for what is right, there have always been those willing to stand against tyranny and oppression. Some stand side-by-side, sending fear into the heart of evil, but some stand alone, sometimes, the full brunt of the fury of the forces of evil must be borne on the shoulders of one man. Sometimes, that man is a fourteen year-old boy. And sometimes, just sometimes, that is enough. But that's a story for another time.

_This is it, that__'__s the Killing Curse, and I can__'__t dodge it, there__'__s no one here to die for me. I__'__m going to die now. I hope Ginny doesn't hurt for too long._ Harry Potter had all but accepted his impending death, he knew it was coming, and that there wasn't a thing on Earth that he could do to stop it. The Curse was going to hit him, and kill him, and Voldemort would win the world.

"Protego!"

Harry knew it was pointless, there was no way in hell that a simple Shield Charm was going to stop a Killing Curse, he could hear, in his own mind, the laughter at his feeble attempt. The jet of green light was nearly upon him, only a half a second left. The blood was pounding in Harry's ears, the adrenaline causing his perceptions to slow even more, he could count the inches the curse was moving, and knew that his body could never move that fast. He watched, almost in slow motion, as the curse impacted his shield, but instead of shattering and allowing the curse to kill him, as Harry had expected, the shield flared gold, and the jet of green light stopped. It actually stopped moving toward him.

It seemed like it was taking minutes, but in reality it was only a few seconds, Harry watched through his slowed perceptions, as the unblockable curse hit his shield, and bounced. It bounced off. Time sped back up, but now it seemed to be frozen. No one was moving, no one was breathing. Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, and thirty odd Death Eaters all stood together, stock still, in blatant shock. Harry was the first to recover, looking around, and spotting the cup a good ten yards away, there was no way he could get to it, but maybe a Summoning Charm…

Tom Riddle, known to the world as Voldemort, or You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, was scared for the first time in his unnaturally long life. He never before been scared, concerned, startled, surprised, but never scared. But he was scared now, no one had ever blocked a Killing Curse, not even he, the most powerful wizard in the world, could block that curse. But the boy had, again. It was a day of firsts for the Dark lord. Never before had an opponent managed to wound him in a duel, not James Potter, not the Aurors, not Dumbledore, but this mere boy had, and the day would be forever remembered as the first time that a Killing Curse was not just survived, but actually blocked, by a simple Shield Charm.

Similar thoughts were passing through the minds of the assembled Death Eaters, though more slowly, with the result that not one of their number was able to react when Harry Summoned the Cup to him, except for their Lord. Voldemort howled in fury, throwing curses at an alarming rate, but he was too late, Potter was gone. Only one Death Eater had managed to accomplish anything in the space of time between the blocked curse, and the re-activation of the portkey, and it was the last person anyone would have expected. But it would be several hours before the Death Eaters found out about that.

Harry re-appeared in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch to thunderous applause, no one knew that he had disappeared for nearly an hour, they just assumed that it had taken him longer than expected to negotiate the maze. Only two people noticed that anything was wrong, Albus Dumbledore, and Mad-eye Moody. Both professors ran down onto the field, noticing the fact that the Tri-Wizard Winner was bleeding from numerous injuries, and apparently had been tortured. However only Moody noticed that Potter was not alone, for he had brought someone back with him, someone to small to be seen at the moment.

Dumbledore was more worried then he'd been in a long time. He had expected it to take a while for the champions to get through the maze, what with the obstacles he and Professor Moody had placed, and the magical creatures provided by Hagrid, it should have taken a good deal of time to complete. At first the aged professor thought that Harry had merely gotten through the maze a little quicker than expected, but even that would not account for his current condition, or the 'thousand yard stare', as it was known to the muggles, that Harry was currently displaying. The boy was staring intently at nothing, the classic sign of shell-shock and combat stress. Surely nothing in that maze had been serious enough to cause this in Harry, after all it was hardly his first time seeing a little action.

Alastor Moody was worried because Potter simply was not supposed to be there. He was supposed to be dead. Why was the boy back? And what had happened to the Dark Lord? The magical eye was fixed steadily on Harry as he drew nearer to the boy, taking stock of his many injuries, especially the cut on his shoulder. At least the ceremony had gone as planned. Then Moody noticed the other person with Harry, and he smiled to himself. It seemed that the Dark Lord had a back-up plan, doubtless in preparation for one of Potters many, dumb-luck enabled escapes. Certainly a good idea given the circumstances, now all he had to do was get the boy alone, so his fellow Death Eater could act.

Accomplishing that goal should have been fairly easy, just pretend to take the boy to the Hospital Wing, no one would deny that he needed a visit, and make a quick stop in an empty hallway. The problem was that Potter's girlfriend managed to beat the ancient professor and the crippled ex-Auror to the unconscious boy by about fifteen or so yards, and wouldn't let go of him for anything. Dumbledore was having a more than difficult time trying to revive Harry, as Ginny was blocking all access to the boy, crying hysterically.

"Miss Weasley I appreciate your position, and your concern for Harry, but you are making it rather difficult for us to care for him." Said Dumbledore in a calm, albeit commanding voice.

Ginny blushed and moved to the side, allowing Dumbledore to revive Harry, but still not more than a foot away from him. This turned out to be a good thing as the first thing Harry did when awakened was look around franticly and, catching sight of his girlfriend, collapsed against her. Ginny wrapped her arms around him, holding him close, she knew how much he needed her right now.

Professor Dumbledore was torn between fear and worry at what must have happened to Harry tonight, and joy that the boy had finally found unconditional love. It was something the world needed more of, and Harry especially. With the love of a good woman behind him, Harry should have no trouble in fulfilling his destiny, and surviving to start a family with said woman. He just hoped that Harry would be forgiving when told the truth, if Dumbledore was right, and Lord Voldemort had indeed returned, Harry was going to need to know everything, and he was going to have to know soon.

"Mr. Potter, would you and Miss Weasley please accompany me to the Hospital Wing? Madame Pomfry is waiting for us, as usual, and I do need to know what has happened to you tonight." The tone of command was gone from Dumbledore's voice, the statement had been a request, there was no way he could force the boy to do anything he didn't want to, and the aged professor wasn't going to try.

Harry just nodded slowly, then rose shakily to his feet, leaning heavily on Ginny, and began moving off toward the castle, Ron and Hermione clearing a path through the mass of cheering students. Only Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Professor Moody, and Professor Dumbledore knew that anything was wrong, everyone else believed that Harry had been injured during the task; they shouted their congratulations at him, not knowing just how monumental the night had been.

Harry took his usual bed in the Hospital Wing, hardly listening as Madame Pomfry detailed his various cuts and broken bones. Harry hadn't even known that he had broken any bones, but apparently he had; it didn't hurt nearly as much as the last few broken bones he had suffered. His thoughts were mainly on Ginny, he found thinking about her blocked out the memory of what had happened that night, but he knew he couldn't block the nightmares, they would still come. Ginny's presence could keep him from reliving the graveyard while he was awake, but she couldn't be with him when he dreamed.

Professor Dumbledore stood on in silence, half listening to the matron who was now mending bones and healing cuts, but mostly trying to figure out what Harry was going to hide from him when he told the story. He could already see it in the boy's eyes, he had something to hide, and he would not tell anyone, except maybe Miss Weasley, but she would certainly not tell anyone.

Harry, with a little coaxing from the Headmaster, and a Calming Draught from Madame Pomfry, began to tell the story of the nights events, starting from his entrance in the maze. He told of his lack of obstacles in the maze, how he took the cup, how it was a portkey, and how the Dark Lord had been reborn. Everyone in the roompaled at the news , and Ginny started silently crying. Harry continued his tale, describing in detail Voldemort's rebirth, his speech to the Death Eaters, and the subsequent duel. The only thing he left out was how he had blocked Voldemort's Killing Curse, saying instead that he had ducked under the curse and used a Flare Charm to distract the Death Eaters while he Summoned the cup.

It seemed like Dumbledore and Moody believed this version of events, but Harry knew that Ginny wasn't fooled; he was incapable of lying to her, she knew him too well, but that was ok, he would tell her the full story later, after he had some rest. He knew she wouldn't tell anyone if he asked her not to.

"Well this is certainly some disturbing news Harry, but I must confess that most of my curiousity in tonight's events is bent toward your easy time in the maze, you never should have made it out in the amount of time you were gone, let alone half of that. You say you didn't run into anything at all?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"Not really sir, only two or three things, and they were pretty easy." Answered Harry groggily, he was close to falling asleep.

Dumbledore pondered this for a good two minutes before his mind put things together, and his reaction startled everyone.

"Stupify!" shouted Professor Dumbledore, pointing his wand at an extremely unlikely target.

"It all seems to make sense now, please Harry let me explain. Do you recall, just before you left for Hogwarts last September, that Mr. Weasley was called away to answer a false alarm at Professor Moody's home? Good. I do not believe now that it was a false alarm, you will remember also that Professor Moody was late for the Welcoming Feast, and lastly, have you noticed how often Professor Moody drinks from his private flask? I've never known him to be so paranoid that he only drank once every hour. There is, however, a simple explanation which I believe you are somewhat familiar with."

Harry was completely dumb-founded, first Dumbledore had attacked his old friend and DADA teacher, and now he expected Harry to know why. Professor Dumbledore seemed to understand that he had not been understood, as he continued on anyway.

"Polyjuice Potion Harry, I doubt that you have ever met Alastor Moody, at least this year, I believe he was at your first birthday party. This is undoubtedly the Death Eater who entered you in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He is also the person who charmed the cup into a portkey to take you to Lord Voldemort tonight. Time, and a little Truth Serum will reveal the details, but for now, you need to sleep, and to heal, I think that Ginny will suffice to keep you company, along with Snuffles, he should be here shortly." Dumbledore took the unconscious professor and departed, leaving a very confused Harry and Ginny behind.

"How can he be so calm about all this?" asked Harry in frustrated confusion.

"I don't know, maybe he's been expecting this to happen, with all the things that have been happening lately." Answered Ginny.

"Maybe, but if he did, then the least he could have done was warn me." The tone of Harry's voice gave testament to his frustration.

"Well there's nothing to be done now, just lay down with me and try to get some sleep, Sirius will be here soon."

Harry leaned back next to his girlfriend, with everything that had happened to him tonight, she was just what he needed. Her touch calmed him, and her voice soothed his troubled mind. They cuddled together on Harry's usual hospital bed, both secretly knowing that sleep would not come.

"Harry?"

"Yeah Gin?"

"What's in your pocket? And why is it moving?"

"There's nothing in any of my pockets Gin, why?" asked Harry.

"Because I feel something moving in your pocket- hold on."

Harry blushed as he felt Ginny reach into his pocket, but nearly knocked both of them to floor when her hand dislodged a large rat from his pocket. It was a rat that Harry recognized at once.

"Wormtail!" he snarled.

Ginny's eyes lit up in understanding, she knew the story of how Peter had framed Sirius, and the rats subsequent escape, she also knew that Harry's wand was in the draw of the bed-side table, but hers was on top of the table.

"Stupify! Stupify! Stupify!" shouted Ginny, firing Stunning Spells at the running rat.

"Good aim Gin." Said Harry as one of the spells struck Petegrew, stunning the rat, and causing him to revert to his human form.

"You know what you just did?" asked Harry.

"Um, apart from catching the man who betrayed you parents and brought Voldemort back to life?"

"Yeah apart from that Gin." Answered Harry.

"Oh, then no I don't." replied Ginny.

"You just freed Sirius, you freed my godfather, and now we have proof!"

Harry was ecstatic, which, given his earlier depression, Ginny would not have thought possible. Harry was literally jumping up and down in joy, which was good for him, but not so good for Ginny, as he had grabbed her in his excitement and was taking her with him. Normally she wouldn't complain, but it was rather uncomfortable for her. She hadn't seen her boyfriend this happy, or this excited, since their very first date, not counting the Yule Ball, he had been positively giddy, and that's exactly how she would describe him now.

"Put me down Harry, your going to hurt us bouncing around like this." Ginny finally told him after a minute or two.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I'm just so excited, I mean, now I don't have to go back to the Dursley's, and even better, I can come visit you over the summer. That was what I was dreading most this year, not being able to come visit you, but if I'm living with Sirius, and I will be, then it should be no problem."

It was at that time that Sirius himself entered the Hospital Wing, in his dog form, to find his very happy-looking godson hugging his girlfriend, and his ex-friend and one-time Marauder out-cold on the floor. Needless to say, Sirius was confused, which translated to a very amusing doggy expression, causing Harry and Ginny to laugh even harder, confusing Sirius even more. Ginny finally took pity on the poor dog, telling him that it was ok to change into his human form , while yelling at her boyfriend to calm down and help her explain everything to the extremely confused Marauder.

It was quite an explanation, starting with everything that had happened in the graveyard, and then moving on to cover Harry's earlier explanation to Dumbledore, and the Headmaster's strange behaviour toward Professor Moody. The embarrassing part came when they explained how Ginny had captured Pettigrew, although Sirius seemed to find the idea of Harry and Ginny sharing a bed much more interesting then how the couple had assured his freedom.

By the time the two had finished explaining everything, and answered all of Sirius's questions, Professor Dumbledore had returned, meaning that Harry had to tell the whole story over again. He was starting to get tired of repeating himself, but the question of Sirius's freedom meant that all of the facts had to be straight.

"Sirius is indeed free, the evidence at had cannot be refuted, and Peter's presence lends us another witness to Voldemort's rebirth, I'm afraid that the Minister was rather hesitant to take your word alone Harry, understandable, although aggravating. Congratulations to the both of you, and to you Miss Weasley, I have no doubt that you will be receiving some sort of award or recognition for this."

"Now Dumbledore", started Sirius "is there really any point in calling her 'Miss Weasley'? Might as well call her 'Mrs. Potter' and start getting used to it." Sirius had been expecting the two teens to be terribly embarrassed at this statement, but he was both disappointed and shocked at his godson's response.

"Sirius makes a good point Pro-" Harry started, but was cut off by a shrill curse.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry was on the ground writhing in pain, it was even worse then in the graveyard, especially given who had put the pain curse on him. It only lasted a few more minutes before Dumbledore recovered enough from his shock to help. Harry turned to face his attacker, almost not daring to believe his eyes, and not wanting to. He did not want to ask, but knew he had to, and that if he didn't, someone else would anyway. His expression almost mirrored the shock on Dumbledore's and Sirius's faces, except for the betrayal in his eyes.

"Ginny?"

_**A/N—I'm laughing so hard I'm crying, just got this back from my Beta, Leigh your reaction was priceless. He doesn't know what's going on either, only I know. Hate me? Good. I'm not telling. But what if I do tell you that the next chapter wont either? It will be all Ron/Hermion? Gonna kill me? Try. Please?**_

_**Sorry about the delay, I was off the grid for a while. Wont happen again, I think. Big things are happening, Voldies back, Sirius is free, Harry and Ginny are sleeping in the same bed. Chapters might take a little longer, sorry. But now we have Sirius!!!! You wont believe some of the antics he will be getting up to. More H/G fluf, a lot more, coming up. Harry and Sirius bonding. The good stuff. Rating will go up though, for language and a little violence.**_

_**Thank you to my 68 reviewers, and slightly less sincere thank you's to my 400 subscribers, keep reading!**_


	9. Problem, Big Problem

"_Holy S, what the f is going on?__"__–__ Lewis Black_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles, proudly present chapter 9:**

**Problem, Big Problem**

A/N- If I haven't already bumped up the rating, it's supposed to be up to M, both for violence, and language, and possibly a little adult content, just a smidgeon I swear. Enjoy!!!

Ron Weasley was, yet again, extremely angry, and frustrated, and confused. So it was just a normal day for him, except that his mother and older brothers had just joined Harry, Ginny, Fred, and George in The Great Hall, but were completely ignoring him and Hermione. It wasn't hard to figure out why; they'd obviously taken Ginny's side, as usual.

Ron snorted into his food again, this time in disgust at himself. He'd figured out a while ago that Ginny and Harry were really happy together, and that he was happy with Hermione, and that they could all be friends again, if only he could admit he was wrong and apologize. Therein lied the problem, it wasn't so much that he didn't want to be Harry's friend again, or to apologize to the both of them for being such a prat, it was that his pride wouldn't let him. He had always had a problem with pride, being poor, and having six older brothers, had bread a streak of stubborn pride in him, and being aware of the problem did not make it any easier to overcome. Well, maybe a little.

Rather then let his anger show, and blow up at someone, as he once would have, Ron approached his conflicting emotions another, much more pleasant way. Spending time with Hermione had become his new favourite activity, even replacing Quidditch, as something that Ron could not spend enough time doing. Even a year ago, Ron would not have seen a relationship between him and Hermione as plausible, now, he couldn't imagine how he gotten through life without her. Even when his own mother refused to speak to him, Hermione not only stood by him, when she knew he was wrong, but also managed to take his mind of things.

That was what the two of them were doing a little ways into the Forbidden Forest after classes on the day of the Third Task: taking their minds off of things. Unfortunately for them, certain interested parties knew that they were in Forest, and guessed, correctly that they wouldn't be very alert to their surroundings. Neither of the two had any idea they had even been stunned, until it was too late.

Harry lay on the cold stone floor of the Hospital Wing, panting hard, his mind trying to work its way through the pain. It was the second time in his life, and in that night, that he had been placed under The Cruciartus Curse. The first person to put him under the curse that was designed to torture had been Voldemort, big surprise there. The second person was a big surprise, a huge one actually. The last person Harry would have expected to turn on him, the one he trusted more then anyone else, had betrayed him, or so it seemed.

Sirius Black had been through a lot in his life, counting his time as a Marauder, his actions in the First War, and spending over a decade in Azkaban, he had seen and done rather a lot. Therefore he felt that not much could really surprise him anymore, but today he had been proven wrong. It wasn't Voldemort's return that surprised him, or his godson's involvement, he had suspected for some time that the Dark Lord was plotting his return, and he had known since Halloween that Harry would be involved somehow. It wasn't even his apparent freedom, at his godson's girlfriend's hands that left him stunned and shocked, well it would if not for the real reason that the mind of Sirius Black was groping in the dark.

Albus Dumbledore had been alive considerably longer then most people thought, and in over a century he had seen and done a staggering amount of strange and bizarre things. The aged professor thought that he had a good handle on life, and that he was good at reading people. However the night's events were just as shocking to him as they were to Sirius Black and Harry Potter. Even the true identity of Professor Moody, he was really Barty Crouch Jr., a Death Eater believed dead, paled in comparison to the actions of one of his students, something just didn't make sense, even if it was a legitimate attack, which the Headmaster rather doubted, the timing was wrong, especially given the amount of time the two had spent alone since Harry returned. No, something just wasn't right at all.

Harry looked up from the floor once again, his mind was still having trouble processing the simple realization, he knew he was fighting it, refusing to accept what his mind was trying to tell him. There was simply no way, no possible way, that _she_ had betrayed him like this. It just didn't make sense, but it seemed to be real, he wasn't waking up in a cold sweat anyway.

"Ginny?"

The question echoed throughout the room, almost as if it had been screamed, though he had barely whispered it. Even Professor Dumbledore and Sirius were staying silent; probably in shock themselves, waiting for some sort or answer or explanation.

Harry's body, particularly his neck, protested the movement, but Harry had to look, he had to see her face. His head came up slowly, but when his eyes met hers, he immediately knew something was wrong, something was out of place, he didn't know what, but it was there.

"Professor, I think, I think something's very wrong." Harry was trying to say more, but the stress of the evening, both physical and mental, was making it increasingly difficult for him to speak, as he slipped even further into shock.

His ragged panting seemed to break the Headmaster out of shock, or at least most of the way, and he began waving his want towards Ginny, muttering softly under his breath. It took a few minutes, but the girl began to glow slightly orange, which seemed to clarify something for Dumbledore, as he ceased casting whatever charm he had been working on.

Harry looked toward his Headmaster and Godfather, his eyes clearly begging for some explanation as to why his girlfriend had just attacked him with an Unforgivable Curse. He found no explanation in the two adults he trusted most, Professor Dumbledore's eyes had lost their customary twinkle; they were cold and hard as he turned to leave.

"I am sorry Harry, but I must see to matters concerning the rest of the students. Sirius, you would please explain the situation to him?" asked Dumbledore as he left the Hospital Wing.

"Of course Headmaster," answered Sirius "Harry you may want to sit down, this is going to be some shock, or maybe not given that it's you, sit down anyway, the floor can't be comfortable."

Harry thought his Godfather must surely have lost it, how could anyone possibly worry about being comfortable at a time like this? All Harry wanted was an answer or explanation, preferably a very good one, and he was beginning to tire of everything happening in riddles tonight, never mind that Voldemort had returned just hours ago. But he did trust both Sirius and Dumbledore, so he calmly took a seat, trying not to let his frustration show too much.

"Now Harry, the important thing is that Ginny doesn't want you dead, or hurt, nor is she serving Voldemort. That orange glow you saw? That was an Imperius Detection Charm; Dumbledore invented it after Lucious Malfoy got off Azkaban as a means of determining whether someone is under the Imperius Curse, suffice it to say that Ginny definitely was. Most likely as Crouch's back-up plan."

The emotions showing on Harry's face cycled through frustration, shock, anger, and then confusion so fast it must have hurt him. He was extremely angry that someone had put the Imperius Curse on _his_ Ginny, let alone to try and hurt him. Then confusion hit him when Sirius mentioned Crouch. How could Percy's boss be involved in this? He was dead wasn't he?

"Not that Crouch," explained Sirius "Barty Crouch's son, same name, was thought to be dead, when really his mother broke him out of Azkaban, he captured Moody, and used Polyjuice Potion to enter you in the Tournament, and make sure you got to the cup that he turned into a Portkey, at least according to Dumbledore."

Harry's emotional switchboard went back to shock and settled there for the time being, it was easier than trying to process all of this information at once. Shock, that Ginny had been under the Imperius Curse, anger that someone had dared to curse _his _girlfriend, concern for his girlfriend, relief that Sirius was finally free, and a good deal of confusion made processing thought slow going at best.

Finally, though, his concern for Ginny won out, she was going to be going through the same emotional upheaval as she had after her first year, primarily guilt, mixed in with fear, both that she had hurt him, and that he would now hate her. Of course neither was true, nor was any guilt justified, but try telling that to a hysterical girl, especially a redhead. Sirius had explained to him that the only way to reverse the Imperius Curse was a potion, and several hours of Dreamless Sleep, Madam Pomfry was working on getting the potion from Professor Snape, while Ginny was still stunned. Harry curled up on the bed next to hers, thankful that the evening seemed to be winding down at last, the only things left were Sirius's trip to the Ministry to testify and present Wormtail, as well as determining who had put Ginny under the Imperius Curse, though it was almost certainly Crouch Jr.

Ron Weasley awoke in a groggy daze, not really sure why he was waking up, and painfully aware of the throbbing in his head. Why was he waking up? The last thing he remembered, he had been in the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Hermione, and had been thoroughly engrossed in his girlfriend. Surely they hadn't gone to sleep out in the forest? Not that taking a nap with Hermione would be a bad thing, but surely she had better sense than to go to sleep out of bounds?

Ron was so busy pondering how he had gotten where he was, and why he was asleep, he had completely ignored _where _he was. Had he been more alert, the youngest male Weasley might have registered that he and his girlfriend were currently locked in a suspiciously cell-like room, one completely devoid of furnishings, or windows. Only a solitary door provided any means of entry or exit, but it was a very secure door, until it opened to admit the last person Ron would want to be holding him captive.

Cold grey eyes stared at the young prisoner from behind a Death Eater's mask, there was really no need to hide his identity, the boy was going to die anyway, but his captive's fear was undeniably enjoyable. It was getting to be a vendetta, the way he always went after the mans children, he was going to have to find a way to knock off those disgusting twins next, he didn't count the episode with the girl a total failure, she had least been scarred for life.

Ron propped himself up on his elbows, looking at the black mask covering his captor's face. He was afraid, more afraid then he'd ever been, but he wouldn't show it. Though Ron had never had his life directly threatened before, he had been friends with Harry long enough to know that it would be better not to show fear, better to be defiant. Maybe he could also divert their attention away from Hermione, because Ron had no misconceptions about what would happen to a pretty young witch captured by Death Eaters, and he would do everything he could to spare her _that_ that fate, even if it meant he had to take more pain for her.

"Scared boy?" asked a chillingly familiar voice.

"Go to hell." Answered Ron.

"You know nothing of Hell boy, but in time you will learn." This statement from the Death Eater was accompanied by maniacal laughter, though that only lasted a few moments.

"Crucio!" voiced the Death Eater his wand trained on Ron.

Every horror story he had ever heard about the First War was reaffirmed in his mind as he felt pain beyond anything he could ever imagine. Every time he had heard of someone being tortured by Death Eaters, he had tried to imagine what it must feel like, but he realized that he had never even come close.

"Enjoy that boy?" sneered the voice when the Pain Curse was lifted after a minute.

"Oh yes, having the time of my bloody life." Ron answered sarcastically, serving to further infuriate the Death Eater.

"Damn Gryffindor's no manors at all; I guess I'll have to teach you some, just as the Dark Lord has taught Potter tonight. Crucio!"

Ron braised himself for the pain, but it never came. He looked around in confusion, until he saw Hermione writhing silently behind him.Ron threw himself between her and the Death Eater, hoping that he could take the curse for her, but to no avail, he just hit the floor hard, much to the amusement of the Death Eater.

"You're all so predictable, but I wonder, how long will you watch her suffer? Or, better yet, how much fun will I have with her before you break?"

Ron knew what the man was implying, and it angered him more then being held prisoner or being tortured.

"I almost feel sorry for you, almost." Gasped out Ron.

"And why would _you_ feel sorry for _me_ Weasley, you're the one whose going to die a slow painful death, after you watch hers."

"Because," answered Ron "Harry is going to really hurt you when he finds us."

The statement seemed almost laughable, there was no way Harry could know where they were, and even if he did, Ron and Hermione had hardly been giving Harry reason to risk his life for them over the last six months. But even false hope was some hope, and hope was important.

"My, my boy, you are uninformed, hasn't anyone told you yet? The Dark Lord killed Potter earlier this evening when he returned to power. No one is coming for you, no one even knows your gone, except maybe your sister, but if she does, it means that she's dead to." Laughed the Death Eater, placing the Cruciartus Curse on Ron yet again.

_**A/N**__**—**__**Wow, Ron and Hermione are in some trouble, anyone guess who's got them yet? I gave a lot of hints. And what**__**'**__**s this about Harry being dead? Last I hears he safely sleeping alone next to Ginny, who is under the Imperius Curse, uh oh!**_

_**And to think we started out as pure fluff? Who would have though we**__**'**__**d end up here? But don**__**'**__**t worry, we**__**'**__**ll be ears deep in fluff before you know it, just after some action and angst. **_

_**B/N- Anyone else wondering who freckels is? Always gets a mention at the beginning of the chapter but never seems to do any work, which just don't seem fair to me.**_

_**The WoLf At BaY**_


	10. Plans, Big Plans

-1_"__I don__'__t want to die for you, but if dying__'__s asked of me, then I__'__ll bear that cross with honour, __'__cause freedom don__'__t come free.__"__–__ Toby Keith, American Soldier. _

_**This chapter is dedicated to my brothers in arms deployed over seas.**_

**The WoLf At BaY, Freckles, and Leigh Proudly Present Chapter Ten:**

**Plans, Big Plans**

Sirius was nearly out of the castle, levitating the unconscious Peter Pettigrew behind him, on his way to the Ministry, to have his name formally cleared of all charges. He was just passing through the door when he heard the Headmaster's voice calling out to him. He stopped and waited for Dumbledore to catch up to him.

"Sirius I'm afraid that I have very bad news, and it concerns both Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Potter, and therefore you. Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley are both missing, though both were at the Third Task, for them to have disappeared at the same time as our discovering Miss. Weasley was under the Imperious Curse, I fear the two events are not unrelated."

"How are they connected? You don't think the same person who put Ginny under the Imperious Curse kidnapped Ron and Hermione do you?" asked Sirius, already starting to visibly panic. If Harry's best friends were missing, whether or not he was on speaking terms with them, was not going to go over well in the morning.

"I do not think so, Hagrid found signs of a small struggle just inside the Forbidden Forest earlier this afternoon, it appeared that one or more persons were stunned and dragged off, as no one was missing, I dismissed the matter, however, given the circumstances, I believe that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley may have been abducted off of the school grounds. It now appears likely, given Miss Weasley's activities throughout the day, that only Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have been in a position to discreetly place a powerful curse on her. Therefore I have deduced that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley were abducted by Voldemort's supporters prior to the Third Task, and replaced via Polyjuice Potion, in order to place Miss Weasley under the Imperious Curse as a back-up if Harry escaped from the graveyard tonight."

Sirius was left stunned at Dumbledore's words, the complexity of such a scheme was outstanding, the margin for error was next to nothing, but against unsuspecting, and probably distracted, teenagers, it would be possible.

"Are you sure about all this Dumbledore? I mean it seems like a highly complex scheme."

"Yes, indeed it is very complex, but it also worked perfectly, except for our presence in the room when Miss Weasley was told to act, doubtless her prior experience with Voldemort made her mind less susceptible to control. She was able to fight back, to a degree, and act when we were both present to intervene."

"Harry's going to throw a fit when we tell him, you know how he is, first thing, he'll blame himself for not talking to either of them for the last six months. It won't be pretty, or easy." Sirius told the Headmaster.

"This is exactly why you're going to tell him, while I question Peter about the whereabouts of Harry's friends."

Sirius was shocked that Professor Dumbledore would manipulate him like that, but it also had a hint of true Marauder style in it, so Sirius just chuckled to himself as he headed back to the Hospital Wing, leaving Wormtail to the Legilimancy and Veritaserum induced questioning that awaited him. The walk back wasn't nearly as long as Sirius would have liked, Harry had already had a horrible night, having to wake him up and tell him that his estranged best friends had been captured by Death Eaters was going to be downright cruel to the boy. Sirius wished that Ginny had recovered; she would be able to calm him down, and stop him from exploding at him.

Fortunately for Sirius he found the doors to the Hospital Wing locked, and a note from Madam Pomfry on the door, stating that both of her patients would be kept isolated for the next twenty-four hours, at least. While it spared Sirius his task, it also made tomorrow morning rather daunting. He transformed into his Anomalous Form and curled up next to the doors, falling asleep before he had a chance to rehearse what he was going to tell Harry in the morning.

Ron was in a bad spot, and he knew it, Hermione still wasn't awake, and he had his suspicions about the nasty bruise on her head, sporadic torture wasn't helping either. He wasn't sure how long they had been there, but judging by his stomach, it had probably been at least a day since he had last eaten, and about half that long since Malfoy had first talked to him. Lucius had come back several times, mostly to taunt him, throwing the occasional Cruciartus Curse at him, or Hermione. That was the part that really got to him, because there was nothing he could do to protect her against that. Ron knew he was being chauvinistic, though he was amazed he knew a word that long, but he felt it was his place to take the pain, and keep Hermione safe. She shouldn't have to deal with this, especially not when he should be able to protect her. In happier times, he would refer to these thoughts as "Harry moments" referring to his friend's affinity for saving people.

It would be different if the Death Eater was trying to get information out of him or something, then he could at least be defiant, the most he could do now was curse at the man, and he'd have to stop that once Hermione woke up. He was feeling completely helpless and rather angry with himself for being thick enough to put himself, and his girlfriend, in this position. If only he hadn't been too proud to apologize to Harry, he could have spent the day with his family, getting teased by his older brothers about Hermione, and lectured by his mother about his exams.

Dumbledore swept through the corridors of his beloved school, wondering at how everything could appear so peaceful when life was so turbulent at the moment. Two of his students were in the care of Lucius Malfoy, another was in the Hospital Wing recovering from being under the Imperious Curse, and a fourth was also in the Hospital Wing, recovering from the Third Task, watching the rebirth of Lord Voldemort, duelling Lord Voldemort, and then being tortured by his Imperioused girlfriend. The last time the Headmaster had been this active had been before the First War, back when he fought Grindelwald, after that, he took a back seat slightly, allowing younger men to take much of the workload. During the First War, it had been James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, and Frank and Alice Longbottom that had done much of the actual work against Voldemort. Only Sirius was left, and he now had a godson to look after. Albus Dumbledore was going into his third day without sleep, first he had had to spend an entire day, and night, setting up the maze for the Third Task, then the day of the task had been hectic, organizing the actual event, and subsequent visitors to the school.

The fatigue was starting to show, as the old man stumbled slightly on the stairs to the Hospital Wing, but there was far too much to do, he still had to re-form the Order of the Phoenix, and meet with the Minister, and convene the Wizingamont to convict Peter Pettigrew, and clear Sirius. And he had to find a new Potions Master, as Severus had rejoined the Death Eaters. Sleep was apparently a luxury afforded the young, but the next few days were going to be extremely hard for Harry, Ginny, and Sirius. Much as the Headmaster loathed the situation, this year was proving to be a trial-by-fire for Harry, and he was performing admirably. The boy had gone through a myriad of physical, mental, and emotional challenges, hopefully this was the last hurdle.

All year, Harry Potter had been running a gauntlet, he had come very close to death more times then he knew, and he wasn't through it yet. Dumbledore knew that there was one task remaining, one last tribulation for Harry before he could rest. His friends needed to be rescued, but more importantly, Dumbledore needed to know if the boy was able to give everything he had, and just when surely he must be spent, give even more. It was the perseverance and dedication so highly valued by muggle fighters. Harry had to be able to push himself to the edge and over and back again, or else how was he going to know where the edge was? But that didn't mean Albus Dumbledore had to like putting the boy through it all.

Harry Potter himself awoke when the sun hit his face, very aware that something was drastically wrong, but he had no idea what, oh well, it was six in the morning, who knew anything this early? He sat up in the comfortable Infirmary bed, reaching for his glasses, which had been placed on the bedside table, presumably by Madam Pomfry, the night before. Harry looked around dazedly, still not entirely awake yet, and his eyes fell on his girlfriend. She was sleeping soundly in the bed next to his, lying on her side, facing him. She looked so beautiful just lying there, with the sun rising in the window behind her, shining through her deep red hair, almost making her glow.

It was then that Harry's mind kicked into gear, and the night's events came back to him all at once. His first instinct was to vomit, but his stomach had nothing to give. He had never felt so sick before, not even when he had drunk Polyjuice Potion. The return of Lord Voldemort was a truly horrifying thing, especially for Harry, whom the Dark Lord had wanted dead for about fourteen years, but it seemed trivial and insignificant when compared to what Harry remembered happening later that night.

Harry had been so elated after he and Ginny had discovered Peter Pettigrew that he thought nothing would be able to get him down for a long while. He had been very wrong, he knew it wasn't a nightmare, because he had nightmares all the time, and none of them even came remotely close to being as bad as the reality he had experienced. Ginny, _his_ Ginny, had put him under the Cruciartus Curse, the one that was fuelled by hatred and used to cause an overwhelming amount of pain to the victim, the one that had been used to drive Neville's parents insane, the one that Voldemort had used on him for amusement.

The nightmare only got worse. Next he had learned that Professor Moody, whom Harry had trusted throughout the year, the man who had taught him Defence Against the Dark Arts, who had helped him figure out how to get passed a dragon, had been a Death Eater. The man had broken out of Azkaban simply to resurrect Voldemort, and kill Harry. And he had damn near succeeded, but that wasn't enough, then he had to go and put an Imperious Curse on Ginny, and force his girlfriend to try and kill him.

All Harry wanted to do was lay back down and go back to sleep and not wake up until everything had been one horrible nightmare, and not the worst night of Harry Potter's life. They say that bad news only gets worse, and the face of Albus Dumbledore, as he entered the Hospital Wing followed by a sheepish looking Padfoot, gave testimate to that.

"Ah Harry, good to see your awake. Doubtless you have many questions about the night's events, and I assure you I will answer them all, to the best of my abilities, as soon as I give you one last bit of news."

"What else can have happened Professor?" asked Harry, hoping that it was something trivial, but the Headmaster's countenance gave him very little re-assurance.

"Well I have deduced exactly how Miss Weasley came to be under the Imperious Curse. It seems that the curse could only have been put on her by two people: Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger." Dumbledore had to stop at this point, as Harry had stood up and looked to be torn between rage, and disbelief.

"What?! How is that possible? I know we aren't exactly on speaking terms, but neither of them would ever do something like that!" Harry was shouting, which made Sirius very glad he was a dog.

"I know Harry, I know. Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley were last seen entering the Forbidden Forest yesterday afternoon. A short time later they were sitting on either side of Miss Weasley at the Third Task. I believe, and Sirius agrees with me, that in the time between, they were both taken from this school by the servants of the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore paused at this point, both to let his words sink in, and to observe Harry's reaction. Contrary to what the Headmaster had expected, Harry remained calm, and looked to Sirius for confirmation, rather then shouting again. The large dog nodded once, and Harry's face dropped into his hands, no doubt he was blaming himself, as Sirius had predicted.

"The Death Eaters then used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate your friends, and place the Imperious Curse on Miss Weasley, the rest speaks for itself. Polyjuice Potion seems to be becoming a common theme at Hogwarts, I shall have look into finding a means to detect its use. Well Harry I have a meeting with the Ministry to attend, so I'll leave you and Sirius with the knowledge that your two friends are currently being held in the basement of Malfoy Manor, and I pray you won't do anything too rash with that information. Good day."

With that the Headmaster took his leave, leaving a very confused dog behind. Sirius transformed back into a man, the look of confusion on his face matching that of his godson. The two turned to look at each other, thinking almost the same thing, though with slightly differing amounts of action, glory, and danger.

"Padfoot, you don't suppose he told us that knowing that we'd come up with some crazy plan to attack Malfoy Manor, single handed, and save Ron and Hermione?" asked Harry "Because that would be very irresponsible of him, he knows how we are."

"Yes he does, he knows that you have an uncanny, and rather disconcerting, way of figuring things out, and getting things done, that even he can't. And he also knows that, as an ex-Auror, I am more then able to take care of myself, and/or you, and that, should you try to do something foolish, I would be duty and honour bound to come along for the ride. He knows exactly what we're going to do; he just left it up to us to work out the details."

Well then," said Harry, pointing at Ginny "let's get to it. We need to be gone before she wakes up."

"Why? I would think you'd want to tell her where you're going, and why."

"True, but if I did, there's no way I could leave her here, and she's not coming with us."

"Well then, do you know anything about Malfoy Manor? Because I don't, and we need to."

"No I don't, but I know someone who does, DOBBY!"

The overeager house-elf appeared with a POP as usual jumping onto Harry in his excitement.

"Harry Potter Sir! What can Dobby do for the great Harry Potter?"

"Well Dobby I need some information about your old master's house, and I need it fast."

Dobby's eyes went wide at the mention of the Malfoys, but they were the size of dinner plates when he realized what Harry was asking for.

"Why does Harry Potter want to know about Dobby's old masters? They is bad, dark wizards, Harry Potter is being better off staying away from them sir."

"I know Dobby, but Lucius has kidnapped two of my friends, I don't know why, and I don't care, I have to save them. And to do that, I need someone who can help me get around Malfoy Manor. That's you Dobby, please, I need your help."

Dobby still looked sceptical for a moment, and Sirius couldn't blame him. He knew the story of the odd elf's attempts to 'save' Harry in his second year, and he also knew how much the elf hated the Malfoys.

"Dobby," said Sirius "if you help us, Lucius Malfoy would probably end up in prison, he'd finally get what he deserves."

This statement was enough to bring the elf completely over to their side. Sirius conjured some parchment and quills, and the three set about making a crude map of the manor, hopefully it would be good enough.Sirius, Harry, and Dobby were deep in conversation for the next hour, neither aware that another set of ears had been listening in, nor that another mind was making plans, though the closed brown eyes feigned sleep.

**A/N2—wow! Ten whole chapters, who'd have thought? By the time this chapter is up, we better have hit 100 reviews, or else I'll kill Ginny!!! Yes, I've sunk to a level where I'm threatening you, and if you've read my other stories, then you know that I have no qualms about giving her a slow, painful death, not that I want to, but I will. Anyway, keep reviewing; it makes me feel good about myself. Congratulations to everyone who guessed that the Malfoy's were R&H's captors, its both of them, not just Lucius, for those of you who are unsure. Oh yeah, quick question I need to answer, I know it doesn't take a night of bed-rest and potions to recover from the Imperious Curse, but Ginny wasn't released willingly, the curse has to be broken, and I cant see having control of your mind ripped out of the control of an Unforgivable Curse being an easy, or painless, procedure. **

**Just got this back from my Beta, thanks Leigh, and we're still under 90 reviews, never mind 100, say good-bye to the pretty redhead. I do love making Harry a suicidal martyr. **

**The WoLf At BaY**


	11. Malfoy Manor

-1_"__I have no shadow on the wall, I__'__ll be the one to save us all!__"__–__ Breaking Benjamin, Blow Me Away_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter Eleven:**

**Malfoy Manor **

The large manor house was backlit by a full moon, giving the huge mansion and surrounding grounds an eerie glow. The house itself was huge, four floors, dozens of rooms, secret passages, and basements, and they would all have to be searched. The grounds stretched as far as the eye could see, the property borders lost over the horizon. It was too bad about the moon; they could have used Remus' help.

Harry and Sirius crouched low, hidden on all sides by the thick underbrush on the north side of the manor house. It had taken the better part of the day for them to plan out the rescue, and get in position, but now they were here, and everything was ready. Dobby had provided them with a detailed layout of the house, as well as the extensive lawns.

"Are you ready for this Harry?" asked Sirius.

"I'm not sure; I've never done anything like this before." answered a nervous Harry.

"Of course you have, you've done something like this every year. Do you honestly think that this will be that much harder then trying to get past a dragon?"

"Yes I do, the situation is completely different, not to mention a lot more complicated."

"True, but I was hoping that might make you feel better. Listen the worst thing that could possibly happen is that you and I die, but how is that different from any of the other crazy things you've done with good reason?"

"I guess it's not really that different, but it doesn't stop me being scared."

"Well of course your scared Harry, there'd be something wrong with you if you wasn't, I'm scared too, but as long as we stick to the plan, and watch each other's backs, we'll be fine, and have Ron and Hermione out of there no problem."

Harry didn't respond this time, just set his jaw, raised his wand, and nodded once, in confirmation that he was ready. The two moved silently across ten yards of open space, both silently praying that no one looked out a window, until they were up against the wall of the manor. Harry could feel the magic in this wall, and guessed that it would be very hard to do any damage to any part of the house. He hoped that these protective spells didn't cover the doors as well, or else they had just wasted a day's hard work for nothing.

Sirius was taking the lead, heading towards the back of the house, where Dobby had told them there was a small door used by the house-elves, and generally ignored by everyone else. The small elf had told them that it should be easy to sneak in through this door under cover of darkness, and they were gambling everything that he was right.

The door was small alright, it was barely four feet high, even Harry was going to have to crawl through it, and he had always been small. Sirius turned and pointed to the door, then to himself, indicating that he would go first, while Harry watched the rest of the yard to ensure they wouldn't be snuck up on. They had worked out a crude system of hand gestures earlier that day, so that they wouldn't have to talk once they were inside the manor.

Sirius got down on his hands and knees, his wand held loosely in his mouth, and slowly opened the door, checking the other side, before he moved through. Half a minute later, Sirius' hand reappeared, beckoning Harry to come through. He didn't have to go quite as low as Sirius had, but he still felt very exposed, and moved through as fast as silence would allow. The door led to a small hallway, which Dobby had told them was part of a small web of corridors used by the house-elves. They were safe in these corridors, as no witch or wizard would have ever have reason or inclination to enter them; they were known only to house-elves, who were incapable of telling anyone else about them.

After ten cramped, nerve-racking minutes, the corridor opened up into the kitchen, just as they had expected. From there they had no idea where to go, and had been planning on searching the entire manor for Ron and Hermione. Such a search became immediately unnecessary, as the screams told them exactly which way to go.

Ginny Weasley sat on her bed in Hogwarts Hospital Wing, being examined by Madame Pomfry for what felt like the hundredth time. Normally she would have protested such attentions, but she had far more important matters to deal with, and the sooner she got out of here, the better. She knew where Sirius and Harry had gone, and of course they had gone; how could Dumbledore tell them where Hermione and Ron were and not expect them to do something stupid.

Finally the matron declared her healthy enough to survive on her own, and Ginny immediately left the Hospital Wing, intending to find the Headmaster and warn him about what Harry and Sirius were doing. She had only made it halfway down the first hallway, however, when she was hit in the back hard, and knew no more.

It took every ounce of self control Harry had not to forget everything that he and Sirius had planned, and charge off to save his friends, but he knew that that would only get all four of them killed. Sirius looked little better, but he too restrained himself, and motioned towards the stairs leading down to the cellars. They had both committed Dobby's map to memory as much as possible, and it was paying off. The staircase was small, apparently designed for a house-elf, but manageable for Harry and Sirius. Once at the bottom, they found that the cellars expanded, and that several corridors led off in all directions. The sound of someone screaming, it was probably Ron judging by the depth of the voice and the swear words, were coming from somewhere off to the left, but there were three different tunnels on that side, and it was impossible to tell which was the right one.

"Split up?" asked Harry as softly as possible.

"No, we stay together, we'll just have to check them one by one." whispered back Sirius.

They slowly crept down the first tunnel, wands at the ready expecting anything and everything they could think off to jump out at any moment. The end of the tunnel revealed a large room, which turned out to be filled with wine-racks. The sounds of the screams and cursing were more muffled here then before, so they doubled back to try the second tunnel. This one led them to another room, filled with crates and boxes of all shapes and sizes. The screams were louder in here, so Sirius and Harry spent ten minutes wandering around, looking for another tunnel. When none was found, they returned to the larger chamber, to check the last tunnel.

Halfway down the third tunnel they knew they had the right one, Ron's screams were very loud now, and Harry thought he could hear Hermione's voice, though it was nearly drowned out. Harry could see a faint light flickering at the end of the tunnel, probably a torch. It was less than twenty yards away, and Harry was finding it extremely hard not to rush the rest of the way, curses flying as he did so. He could deffinatly hear Hermione now, but he sorely wished he couldn't.

Hermione was scared out of her mind; she had no idea where she was, how she got there, or why she was there. She only knew that it was a very bad place to be. She had woken up, strange since she didn't remember going to sleep, to Ron's screamed curses. She was just wondering why he was screaming, and using language like that, when she heard an unfamiliar voice shout "Crucio!" and she came to horrible realization that she and her boyfriend were being tortured.

It only took a few minutes for her captor to realize that she was awake, and turn his wand on her. Now it was her screams echoing off the walls, while Ron screamed and cursed at the man in the black robes, trying desperately to get him to stop. The man, she supposed he must be a Death Eater, only laughed at Ron's efforts, and began telling them both exactly how must worse things were going to get for them, and especially for her.

Sirius came to the corner at last, Harry only a step behind him, and tentatively peaked around the other side. He could see the two teens; Ron appeared unable to stand, as he was laying on his side, holding himself up on his elbows, screaming at Lucius Malfoy. Hermione was on her back on the floor, writhing in pain, obviously under the Cruciartus Curse. Sirius felt the anger rising inside him, and not all of it was on behalf of Harry. These two children had been his godson's first and best friends, and had also helped him to escape the ministry last year.

Harry could now see Ron and Hermione as well, and he was even angrier then Sirius. This was unfortunate for Malfoy, as he had no idea the two wizards were behind him. They were standing in the open in the doorway now, but only Ron could see them, and he knew better then to do anything to give them away. Harry raised his wand, centring it squarely on the Death Eater's back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sirius doing the same thing, and knew that it would be better if they cast their spells at the same time.

Harry's voice shouted, "Explodra!" at the same time that Sirius yelled, "Incarcerous!".

The Explosion Hex hit Malfoy first, opening a nasty gash along the man's torso, and blowing him very forcefully into the far wall. Sirius's Curse hit shortly after, binding Lucious in thick, magical ropes.

"Nice one Harry, I didn't know the Exploding Hex was taught in the Forth Year." said Sirius.

"It's not," answered Harry, "but Ginny owled Bill last month to see if he knew any good curses for the Third Task, and the Explosion Hex was one of them."

"Good thing she did too, that's how many you owe that girl?"

"I've lost count to be honest Padfoot, now lets grab them and get the hell out of Dodge City."

"Dodge City?" asked Sirius in confusion.

"Muggle saying, 'means lets get out of here, quick, fast, and in a hurry."

"Smart muggle, whoever came up with that." said Sirius, lifting an unconscious Hermione in his arms. Harry slung one of Ron's arms over his shoulders, supporting his friend's weight.

"Hey mate." said Harry softly.

"Hey, can't tell you how glad I am to see you H-Harry." replied Ron weakly.

"C'mon, let's get you two out of here."

POP!

POP!

POP!

POP!

POP!

POP!

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere, Harry Potter." the simple statement came out as an evil hiss that once again chilled Harry's blood. He leaned Ron gently against a wall, before drawing his wand and turning to face the half-dozen wizards in front of him. Or rather, the five wizards, Voldemort was hardly human anymore.

"Sirius?" asked Harry quietly.

"Not much I can do, I'd be dead before I could put her down, let alone draw my wand." answered Sirius solemnly.

"Right, well, I've never been one to fool around when lives are on the line, Explodra!" Harry said the whole sentence loud enough for all to hear, but he was very lucky with the Explosion Hex, no one had been expecting it, and only Voldemort was completely unaffected by it. The other Death Eaters were, at the least momentarily stunned, giving Harry a chance to focus on the Dark Lord, but Tom Riddle struck first.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Ginny woke up, for the second time that day, feeling like she had been run over by a giant. She instantly recognized the effects of being hit with a Stunning Spell from when she was helping Harry practice for the Third Task, but who could have stunned her? The answer came quickly enough.

"Well, well, well, I guess little Weasels shouldn't run around the castle by themselves, just look what can happen."

Ginny tried not to cringe at the sound of Draco Malfoy's voice, but it was hard not to, especially given the fact that she was bound and gagged.

"I'm afraid I can't have you running to Dumbledore about your pathetic boyfriend, that would ruin father's plans. So I'll have to find a way to keep you entertained for a while. Damn! What now?"

Ginny heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and assumed that Draco had been summoned out of the room. She took a quick moment to thank her lucky stars for that, and set about trying to pull lose the ropes that were holding her hands in place. They were tied crudely together over her head, and it looked like Draco knew very little about tying knots, anyone who could un-wrap a Christmas gift could pull these loose, it was just going to take time.

Just over an hour later Ginny had managed to free her left arm. It wasn't her dominant hand, but at this point she wasn't complaining. Malfoy had been arrogant and stupid enough to leave her wand on the table almost right next to her, and she could nearly reach it; just a bit more slack on her right hand and she would be able to reach it. Ginny knew she was out of time when she heard the door start to open, she didn't have quite enough reach yet, her finger tips were just brushing her wand, when a desperate idea came into her head. She pounded her fist on the table top nearest to her, causing the entire table to shake slightly, but it was enough. Her wand rolled over once, right into her hand.

"Stupify!" Ginny yelled the spell just as the door opened, pointing her wand towards whoever was coming through. She was momentarily disappointed to see the spell blocked, until she saw exactly who blocked it.

"Well done Miss Weasley, well done indeed. I daresay that Mr. Potter has been teaching you a great deal about escapes." The almost merry voice of Professor Dumbledore was almost the best thing she could have hoped for.

"Professor! Quick we have to go, Harry and Sirius-" she was cut off mid-sentence by the Headmaster.

"Yes, I was going to ask you where they disappeared to, I have been unable to find either one, even with this ingenious map." Dumbledore was holding the Marauder's Map in his hands, also showing Ginny how he had found her.

"That's because they went after Ron and Hermione! Right after you told them where to go! How could you possibly think those two wouldn't go off on their own?" shouted Ginny.

"On their own? Surely they didn't go alone, they must have contacted someone for help, Remus Lupin? Nymphadora Tonks? Alastor Moody? Kingsly Shacklebolt?"

Ginny shook her head with each name, knowing that Harry and Sirius had gone off on their own, after all, she had listened to their entire plan several times before they left.

"Well I never dreamed that they would go off alone, surely Sirius must have thought to get someone to help."

"You mean you knew what they would do, and you told them where to go anyway?" asked Ginny, shouting again.

"Yes, sadly I did know what they would do, I was counting on it, but I never expected them to go alone. I must go, please go back to the Hospital Wing, stay there with Professor McGonnagal, Miss Weasley I can assure you that if you leave her care, Harry will almost certainly die tonight."

Dumbledore waved his wand once, and the ropes binding her vanished. Though Ginny Weasley was not one to be left alone, she took the Headmaster's words to heart, and headed back to the Infirmary, praying that Professor Dumbledore would get to Harry in time.

Albus Dumbledore found himself, once again, stumbling up the stairs of Hogwarts. He really was getting too old for this kind of thing, perhaps a vacation was in order. He couldn't believe that Harry and Sirius would go off _alone_ to Malfoy Manor. Albus had fully expected them to go, but he had thought that Sirius at least would have the sense to ask other members of The Order for help. He was going to need all the strength he had to act in time, if only he had had a decent night's sleep.

Harry watched, for the second time in two days, in slow motion as The Killing Curse inched toward him. Even if he thought he could block it again, he had no time, Voldemort had cast the curse too quickly. Then something very strange happened, the air between Harry and The Curse began to ripple, as if it was a heat haze. Then Harry saw streamers of flame erupt from a small point in the centre of the haze, expanding outward rapidly, Harry had an idea of what was happening , but didn't dare to hope. The flames spread even more, and it appeared that a small hole opened up in the space, and then Fawkes emerged, flying straight towards The Curse, and right into it.

The Killing Curse sailed right into Fawkes' open mouth, causing him to erupt into flames, much as Harry had seen him do during his second year. However his attention was turned at once to Professor Dumbledore, who had materialized right behind his phoenix. At once The aged Professor began throwing hexes and curses at Voldemort, and Harry started to work, stunning, binding, or otherwise disabling the Death Eaters, Sirius had taken advantage of the confusion to gently lay Hermione down, and joined Harry in taking out the Death Eaters. Most of them had been riveted to the spot, watching their master duel Professor Dumbledore, and had made easy targets.

Harry knew now why Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The old Headmaster, was duelling with a fury that awed Harry. He had not thought it possible for anyone to move so quickly and fluidly, let alone someone that old, but Dumbledore seemed to be everywhere at once, dodging curses and returning spells of his own, but the two were evenly matched.

Dumbledore ducked under a jet of green light, the now familiar Killing Curse, from Voldemort, and returned fire with a pale gold spell that missed its intended target, but hit the wall behind him, turning it into what appeared to be solid gold.

Voldemort conjured a large snake, which moved to attack Dumbledore, but the Professor hit it with a bright white spell, turning it into a lion, which then turned on Voldemort. The Dark Lord obliterated it with a powerful Explosion Hex, then began firing flame spells at Dumbledore. The Headmaster blocked everyone of them, and poised, ready for the next spell, but the Killing Curse came flying towards the still unconscious Hermione, and the barely awake Ron, who was completely unable to move. Dumbledore was unable to do anything to block the curse, so instead threw himself in front of it, whispering something as he did.

Harry had been watching all of this in awe, and now saw his chance, when Dumbledore leaped to the side, Harry cast an Explosion Hex of his own, which hit Voldemort dead-centre in the chest, causing him to fly down the corridor. Moments later there was the clear sound of someone Dissaperating, and Harry ascertained that Voldemort had fled.

Professor Dumbledore was lying on the ground very still but still breathing, albeit very weakly. Harry was at his side in an instant, wondering how he had managed to survive.

"Professor how- how did you survive that?" asked Harry.

"I have learned a good deal from what your mother did for you Harry, nearly enough to replicate her effect on you, but not quite."

"So, you found a way to block The Killing Curse?" asked Harry excitedly.

"It is a good deal more complicated than that, and I am very tired, might I suggest that you collect your friends, and that you and Sirius lead us out of this house, I daresay Miss Weasley is frantic by now."

Harry chuckled dryly at the mention of his girlfriend, and went to check on Ron and Hermione. Ron seemed to be the same as when they first found him, but Hermione's pulse was slowing, she needed help, and fast.

"Professor, what's the fastest way to get back to Hogwarts?" asked Harry worriedly.

"I believe that Fawkes will be happy to help." answered the old Professor.

"But sir, he was hit with that Killing Curse." Harry choked out the words, hating to be the one to tell the Headmaster of his phoenix's death.

"Remarkable creatures, Phoenix's, I think you will find that he is quite alright, if a little small."

And sure enough, in the small pile of ashes, a small baby phoenix was stirring, and singing softly. Harry gathered everyone together, and lightly touched a figure to one of the tiny tail feathers, letting Fawkes take them all home.

Harry had expected a warm welcome when he returned, at the very least a few hours of bed rest. What he had not expected was his furious girlfriend telling him off continuously for going off on some half-assed rescue mission with his crazy godfather, almost getting himself killed, without even telling her. Ginny was doing her mother proud, even Madam Pomfry and Professor McGonagall were cowering in fear, until Harry did the only thing he knew for sure would calm her down. He kissed her, hard, just the way she liked. Ginny looked at him for a moment, then pulled him over to one of the beds that had curtains around it, intending to make up for the last three days during which she had been unable to snog her boyfriend, but not before one final threat.

"Don't think you're off the hook Harry James Potter, I heard what you said about not letting me come with you."

Harry paled, then blushed, then paled again. Ginny only used his full name when she was either very angry with him, or really wanted to tease him before dragging him into a broom closet. Harry wasn't exactly sure which was the case now, but a moment later, when her lips met his, Harry decided it was worth it to find out.

**A/N—huh, wow, Chapter 11 Done, I've been working all day on this, so you better thank me. And also thank FireandChocholate, who reviewed SIX times so I wouldn't kill Ginny. Its almost entirely thanks to him, and partially thanks to Leigh who threatened to resign if I did. Spoilsports. Bad news, the action is going to die down for a while now, to make way for some good, sweet, sweet fluff. Mostly Harry/Ginny, but a little Ron/Hermione, and some Sirius/????? For good measure.**

**Next chapter, Ron and Hermione make their apology, will Harry forgive and forget?**

**Sirius is free, and Dumbledore is feeling guilty. Dursley's or no Dursley's, that is the question.**

**And who in the world will Sirius be hooking up with?**

**The answers to these questions more await in Chapter 12 of TGNAC. **

**The WoLf At BaY**


	12. Free to be Me

-1"_And now the dust has settled, the battles won and lost, the sun is rising in the east, and peace has come at last__"__–__ A not so troubled Author_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter Twelve:**

**Free to be Me**

Needless to say that in the wizarding world, people tend to come and go with varying degrees of randomness, but even in Hogwarts, seeing five people, three of which are heavily injured, appear from nowhere in a burst of flame is a startling experience, especially when those three injured people require your expert care. Fortunately Madam Pomfry had a great deal of experience, mostly from the First War, with strange treatment situations. What she was not used to was seeing Albus Dumbledore, the man considered by many to be the leader of the Wizarding world, and inch from death without a mark on him.

"What happened to Albus?" asked Madam Pomfry, levitating the Headmaster onto a bed.

"He was hit by The Killing Curse," answered Sirius "so he should just be exhausted."

"What about the other two?" asked the school matron, indicating Ron and Hermione.

"Over exposure to the Cruciartus Curse." answered Sirius.

If Madam Pomfry was surprised by the nature of her patient's injuries, she didn't show it. Instead she started gathering potions, muttering about wishing she had a Potions Master to brew her some new ones. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand, looked as if she was on the verge of shock.

"The Killing Curse!? Sirius, what in Merlin's name happened tonight? And how could Albus survive a Killing Curse? And what happened to Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley?"

"I have no idea how he managed to survive that curse, but I bet he has a very smart, long, and complicated response should you ask him when he's awake. As for the other two, they've been in the basement of Malfoy Manor for the last two days, give or take, being tortured by Lucius Malfoy."

"Sirius, please, please tell me that Harry did not go to Malfoy Manor by himself to rescue his friends?"

"Of course not Minerva, I went with him."

"You mean Albus did not?"

"No, that's the odd part, I think he let us go alone on purpose, then showed up in the nick of time to help out when Voldemort showed up. Good thing too, I'm not sure me and Harry could have handled them _and _the Death Eaters."

"Voldemort? Death Eaters? I suppose there is a very good, highly irresponsible story behind all of this?" Professor McGonagall was giving Sirius the same look she had given him years ago, when she caught him and James breaking school rules.

"Yes there is, but best if we wait for Dumbledore to wake up before we tell it, and for Harry to finish, er, whatever it is that he's doing." Sirius shot a glance towards the bed curtains that hid Harry and Ginny, and wondered briefly if he was going to have to give Harry The Talk, or if he had a few years yet; they where only fourteen and thirteen after all.

"Oy! Ginny! Do you mind if we have the Boy-Who-Lived back for a little while?" yelled Sirius.

"You have five minutes!" called back Ginny.

"I just love the way you do whatever she says, whenever she says it." teased Sirius when Harry came back to join the rest.

"Sirius if you were my age, and you knew what I knew, you would be singing a different tune. How are they doing?" asked Harry, pointing towards Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore.

"Ron's going to be alright, just a lot of bed rest and fussing in the near future. Hermione may need to stay here for part of the summer, taking potions, but she should be alright in time. And as far as we can tell, Professor Dumbledore is just exhausted, and needs to spend a few days in bed. I'm more worried about Hermione and Ron's psychological condition, they've been through hell, and they're not going to be alright for a while. If I were you, I'd consider forgetting all about the little fight you three have been having, they're going to need you. "

"I forgot about that whole thing before I went after them Sirius, and I'll do whatever I can to help them, which wont be much seeing as how I'll be stuck at the Dursley's all summer."

"Don't count your owls before they're delivered Harry." said Sirius with a frightening sly smile on his face.

"Padfoot, what do you know that I don't?" asked Harry, a little scared of what the answer might be.

"Oh nothing," said Sirius unconvincingly "just don't count on things not changing, Peter's testimony is going to help more people then just Ron and Hermione.

"Sirius! Your five minutes are up! Give me back my boyfriend!" yelled Ginny from across the room.

This of course sent Sirius into a fit of laughter, as well as Professor McGonagall. Even Ron managed a small chuckle as Harry headed back to his girlfriend; Sirius picked that moment to burst into a coughing fit that sounded more like he was chanting "Whipped, whipped whipped", than actually coughing. Not that Harry was about to complain, people could say whatever they wanted about him, as long as Ginny loved him, he would do anything she asked him to.

"Sirius what did you mean about things not changing?" asked Professor McGonagall once Harry was out of sight.

"Well thanks to Wormtail, I'm being officially pardoned, and Harry does have rather a large house that he doesn't know about, its pretty well protected, James and Lily did most of the wards themselves, not to mention that Dumbledore owes Harry big time for everything he's been through this year."

Minerva managed a small smile; she had never approved of Harry living with his aunt and uncle, and had tried very hard to change the Headmasters mind, thirteen years ago. Even though Sirius was utterly irresponsible and had a lifetime of growing up to do before he would be a suitable parent, he was still a long-sight better then the Dursleys. At least he wouldn't hate and abuse Harry, besides, she would have Molly check up on them.

Two hours later Ron was sleeping, under the influence of a Dreamless Sleep Potion, Harry and Ginny were _still_ snogging (Sirius thought they might be trying for some kind of record), and Hermione and Dumbledore were both asleep of their own accord. Sirius was sitting in a chair at the end of the Headmaster's bed, his head lolled over in sleep. Professor McGonagall had long since retired for the night; after all she had to get the students home in the morning. Madam Pomfry had also gone to her own bed, stating that everyone she had treated that night would be fine, but heaven help them if they so much as thought about leaving their beds once they were awake.

Harry was the only one left awake, he and Ginny had curled up together after their lungs had given out; they both needed to spend some time in each others arms. Ginny had been worried sick, first because of what she had done under the Imperious Curse, and then when he had gone off with Sirius. Harry was worried because this marked the second time that Ginny had been forced to hurt people she cared about, and he knew what that sort of thing could do to a person. It was reassuring for both of them, being together normally, without a care in the world; Ron and Hermione were fine for now, and they would still be there in the morning. But Harry still felt the need to check on everyone, and he needed to talk to Sirius, there was something comforting about finally having an adult who he could trust implicitly, and who he could relate too. Sirius wasn't and never could be his father, but he was a damn good godfather, and exactly what Harry needed right now, someone who wouldn't judge him.

Harry gently shook his godfather awake, careful not to startle him, not wanting to wake anyone else.

"Hey Sirius, lets go for a walk." said Harry quietly.

Sirius nodded and silently stood to follow him, taking his cloak off the chair back.

"Trying to get away from the wife long enough to catch your breath?" asked Sirius as soon as they were around the corned from the Hospital Wing.

"Something like that." replied Harry softly.

"Something wrong Harry?" asked Sirius. Harry usually wasn't this subdued unless something was wrong, and nothing seemed immediately apparent. In fact, Harry should be pretty happy, he had just saved his two best friends from a terrible fate, and gotten several Death Eaters arrested in the process, not to mention landing a serious blow against Voldemort, which not even Dumbledore had been able to do.

"No, not really, I just need someone to talk to, someone who- someone who's older, and can give me advice about how I'm supposed to handle everything that's happened."

"Well Harry, I've never been very good at giving advice, unless it's about girls or pranks, but I'll do my best, seriously."

Harry cracked a smile at the Sirius/Serious joke, and almost managed to laugh, but he was just too tired, and too distracted.

"I know I should feel good, I just saved my best friend's life, kicked Voldemort's ass, and came back to a wonderful girlfriend, but somehow everything just seems like business as usual."

Sirius took a moment to think about this, and especially wondering if now was a good time to tell Harry about the house at Lily Lake, and the two people who would be living there from now on.

"Well Harry, I should probably start by pointing out that this is kind of business as usual for you, I mean you could have been describing any one of the last four years, and I might not have known which one you meant. Except for the part about Ginny, which brings me to the only real advice I can give you. Spend time with Ginny, have fun, live a little. That curse you hit Voldemort with is going to keep him out of it for a while, like months. That's time that you can spend being yourself with your friends and your girlfriend. I advise you take advantage of this time, because when it ends, we're going to be diving face-first into the Second War, and you're going to be right in the thick of things Harry."

"Yeah right, by the time I get away from the Dursley's Voldemort will have already won. I just wish I didn't have to go back there, it's like… it's like I'm being cut out of the Wizarding World for two months, its completely wasted time when I can't do anything useful."

"Your wish is my command Harry."

Harry looked up at Sirius, not daring to hope that his godfather meant what he thought he did. That he never had to go back to the Dursley's again, it would be such a relief that after everything he had gone through, he would be able to stay with his friends, and his real family.

"I was going to wait until later to tell you, but thanks to Wormtail I'm free as a bird, and your legal guardian. Your parents left you a house, their house, to move into when you were ready. Dumbledore doesn't know about it, James actually built it for Lily, even named it after her, and he only told me, Remus, and Lily of course. They never had a chance to move in before they had to go into hiding. We'll be moving in next week."

"Are you serious?" asked an awed Harry.

"That's my name." responded an amused Sirius.

Harry frowned at that, he really wasn't in the mood to joke, but this new revelation was lightening his mood quickly.

"Yes Harry, I'm being serious, the house is yours, once you turn seventeen, and until then it's in my care. So we're going to live there from now on, we're going to play Quidditch, and your going to throw wild parties when I'm not home; unless of course you only want to invite Ginny over."

Harry really did smile this time, thinking of all the time he would be able to spend with the people he loved this summer, instead of being shut away from the world with people who hated him.

"Sirius, I don't know what to say. This is more then I've dared to dream of all my life. I'm actually never going back to the Dursley's?"

"Well not unless you want a little payback?" asked Sirius.

"I'll think about Padfoot."

"Ah! That reminds me, we have to teach you to become an Animagus, and you're going to need a Marauder name, unless you want to go by Prongs Jr.?"

"Well I do like Prongs Jr., but I think I want something original, but we'll have to wait and see what kind of animal I am."

"Your right, your name should reflect your form, hopefully it wont take too long now that I know what I'm doing, and we wont have Peter to slow us down. Are you going to insist on teaching Ginny as well?"

"Maybe, I think I'll hold this over her for a while, good blackmail is hard to come by."

"There's that true Marauder spirit, James would be proud, though you're going to have to explain that to Ginny, and as I remember, Lily was livid for days after she found out about James. Only fight those two ever had after they started dating."

"What makes you think Ginny will re-act the same as my Mum?" asked Harry.

"I've already told you Harry, you're dating a thirteen-year-old version of your mother." answered a grinning Sirius.

"You never cease to amaze me-" Harry tried to go on, but Sirius cut him off.

"You know, you'll never really appreciate that statement until Ginny says it to you in bed. HA!"

Sirius was bouncing around, pointing at Harry's face, grinning madly.

"Yes! I finally made you blush! And it only took me a week; it took me three years to get that one on James."

"Your incorrigible, you know that?"

"Yeah I know, I've heard it from Lily about a hundred times."

"Just don't let Ginny hear you say anything like that, it might give her idea's, she had been in love with me since she was old enough to listen to bedtime stories you know."

Now it was Sirius' turn to blush, as he realized the implications of what Harry had just said to him.

"Please Harry, please tell me that was a joke, because there is no way that I'm emotionally mature enough to give you The Talk, I need at least two or three more years. Not that I'm trying to hold you back."

"Payback is sweet." said Harry in response to the horrified look on Sirius' face. "Your really gonna need a girl though, or at least a job, I can't have you hanging around all day when I invite Ginny over, now can I?"

"Yeah well," muttered Sirius "just don't do anything that Molly will kill us over, at least not yet, let me enjoy being alive before she kills me."

"Alright Sirius, Merlin you are too easy, did my Dad always tease you like this?"

"Well yeah, things were slightly different obviously, but we still had a lot of fun. I don't think I'll ever stop missing them." Sirius' tone went somber towards the end, and a tear formed in the corner of his eye,

"I know Sirius, but at least you knew them, the only memory I have of my parents is their death…"

"Don't let it get you down Harry; as long as we still love them, they're never really gone."

"You stole that line from Dumbledore, didn't you?" asked Harry, smiling again.

"Damn, since when do you kids listen to his speeches, James and I never did."

"He's right though. As long we still love them, and as long as we remember them, they're never really gone."

Sirius and Harry spent the rest of the night, walking around Hogwarts, swapping stories about their adventures in the castle, and Sirius telling stories about James, and to a lesser extent, Lily. It was a great way to spend the night, and left Harry feeling better then a night's sleep ever had. He was looking forward to going home for the summer for the first time ever, and he wasn't going to be saying goodbye to his friends at King's Cross. Sirius had said that Ron, Hermione, and, with supervision, Ginny, would be invited to come over anytime they pleased. Harry went down to the Great Hall for the last time that year, his godfather at his side, his mind at ease, looking forward to long, sunny days filled with Quidditch, or perhaps picnics with Ginny, or anything else he could think off.

Harry Potter was finally going to have a chance to be himself, to be completely at ease, and he was going to do it with the people he loved most, for two wonderful, danger-free months before his return to school.

'_I can finally be me,' _ thought Harry as he sat down _'no Dursley's locking up my things, telling me I'm a freak, no trouble from Voldemort, just me, a Quidditch Pitch, and my family, my real family.'_

**A/N—so sorry, but that's all for this one, I know I promised more, but I didn't want to drag this out. Besides I needed to get a few things done, and I didn't want to tack them onto another chapter, I like this one, and I hope you do to. **

**The WoLf At BaY**


	13. Truth and Reconciliation

-1_"__Only the dead have seen the end of war.__"__–__ Plato _

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles, Proudly Present Chapter 13:**

**Truth and Reconciliation**

Truth be told, Harry Potter had never enjoyed his summers. For the first ten years of his life, they meant spending more hours of the day running from his cousin, as Dudley had no school or homework to distract him and his friends from 'Harry Hunting', which was their favourite pastime. For the last four years, summers meant leaving his world behind, and returning to the Dursley's, which he hated more then he would admit to anyone but himself.

This year was different however, this year, Harry Potter was taking the train home with his friends, meeting his godfather at King's Cross, and going to a real home. He would be able to see Ginny and Ron whenever he wanted. He could play Quidditch and do his homework, he could even ask for help with something he didn't understand; though Sirius might not be the best person to help with homework.

It was a first for Harry, to be looking forward to the end of term, he had never really experienced the Wizarding World outside of school, and he was looking forward to it immensely. He had already planned out the first half of his summer, four times. Every time he went over what he wanted to do with his time, he thought of new things, and made changes, adding or removing, always changing. It was going to take some time before Harry realized that this summer wouldn't be planned out, that he would wake up every morning with no idea what he was going to do that day, and let his whims decide. One way or another, there was going to be a lot of Ginny time, and a lot of Quidditch this summer, which were Harry's two favourite pastimes.

Harry's interactions with Ron and Hermione had changed drastically since he rescued them, they were on speaking terms again, at least, but it was awkward. They all knew that at some point they would have to talk about it, but Harry kept putting it off, not wanting to revert back to hostility. He had had several hours during which he could have sat down with his two friends, but he kept putting it off, telling himself he would do it later, but later was running out, and Harry really didn't want this to spill over into the summer.

Dumbledore's end of term speech consisted of the expected warning about the return of Voldemort, as well as the announcement of Sirius' freedom, and the capture of several Death Eaters. There was a great mystery surrounding the capture of the Death Eaters that he and Sirius had incapacitated, no one seemed to know exactly how they had gotten from Malfoy Manor, to the Auror's custody. The Daily Prophet held very few answers.

**Death Eaters Captured!**

**Harry Potter and Sirius Black Responsible!**

_Late Saturday night, several Death Eaters, including well known Lucius Malfoy, were brought into Auror custody after losing a fight with The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, and his newly pardoned godfather, Sirius Black. Mr. Potter and Mr. Black stormed the infamous Malfoy Manor late at night, single handily defeating several Death Eaters to rescue Mr. Potter's close friends, who were being held captive by the Malfoy patriarch. It is even rumoured that Harry Potter duelled He Who Must Not Be Named, for the second time in two days, alone, and succeeding in grievously wounding the Dark Lord. _

_The gratitude of the wizarding world goes out to Mr. Potter and Black, for bringing several vicious criminals to justice, and granting us a brief respite from the return of You Know Who. Some of the credit must be held in reserve, for the un-named undercover Auror, who risked his cover and his life to bring Malfoy and his cohorts into custody. Our hearts go out to the families of Mr. Potter's friends, and our congratulations to Sirius Black._

_A history of Harry Potter… Pgs. 4-5_

_A History of Sirius Black… Pg. 6_

_Defending your family against Dark forces… Pgs. 7-12._

The article was surprisingly well written, unbiased, and completely accurate. As far as Harry could tell, the facts had been reported exactly as they had happened, minus Professor Dumbledore's involvement. It greatly surprised Harry, who hadn't believed that the newspaper was capable of such good reporting. His experiences with Rita Skeeter had caused him to be somewhat biased against the media, but his opinion was starting to change. He really thought that the article on defence should have taken precedence over his personal history, but he knew better then to fight a battle he couldn't win, at least the information was good.

The short reverence of the undercover Auror caught Harry's interest, as he ate his eggs, and he couldn't help but wonder who it was, and how they had known what had happened. Surely if the Ministry had someone that far into Voldemort's circle, they would have at least suspected that he was returning this year. Sirius had been hinting that he knew more then he was saying, and Harry had no doubt that the Marauder was with-holding information, but he knew that Sirius would tell him in due time. Knowing Sirius, the undercover Auror was probably an ex-girlfriend or something, though how Sirius would know it was her if she was undercover was beyond Harry, at least until lunch time.

Harry and Ginny shared a carriage with Ron and Hermione, but the ride was quite and uncomfortable; as they all sat down in the same compartment on the train, Harry felt the same awkwardness, no one could meet anyone else's eyes, and no one spoke. Every time that Ginny looked at Ron, Harry knew an explosion was imminent, he only hoped to prevent it from escalating to the point of violence, because Ginny was wicked with her Bat Bogey Hex. After several tense minutes of Ginny glaring at her brother, and Harry and Hermione looking nervously between the two, Harry sighed in resignation, and magically sealed the door, adding a Silencing Charm.

"You two are going to have it out one way or another, might as well be with some privacy." Stated Harry in response to their questioning looks. Everyone remained silent for a another minute, before Ginny spoke.

"Ron, you are the biggest idiot in the world, you know that right?" asked Ginny, the threatening hiss in her voice making Ron pale.

"Yes." he gulped in response.

"You know that it was thanks to you that Harry finally realized that he was in love with the best girl in Hogwarts, right?" asked Ginny, the same menacing tone to her voice.

Ron only nodded this time, clearly not trusting his brain or his mouth right now.

"And you're very, very sorry about every stupid, Malfoy-ish thing that you've done the last six months, right?"

Ron nodded again, though some of the colour returned to his face at being compared to Malfoy.

"And you going to apologize to Harry, profusely, thank him for saving your life, again, and then you're going to spend the rest of the summer helping me and him get together, alone, to do whatever we want, right?"

This was the first time that Ron hesitated before answering, and Harry knew why. The other Weasley brothers would probably consider it base betrayal if it was discovered that Ron was helping Ginny spend time romantically with Harry, except maybe Fred and George. Ginny raised her wand threateningly, and Harry, and apparently Ron as well, knew that Ginny had a Bat Bogey Hex of epic proportions on the tip of her tongue.

Ron whitened even more, making him look like a snowman with a tomato perched on top, and nodded dumbly, his eyes darting between Harry, and Ginny's wand.

"Good, now start talking about Quidditch with Harry while Hermione and I have a little girl time, in a different compartment."

This time it was Hermione who paled, but followed Ginny out, leaving Ron and Harry in yet another awkward silence. It was, surprisingly, Ron who spoke first.

"So, think the Cannon's have a shot at the league this season?" asked Ron.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him, a little skeptical to believe that Ron could completely forget about something this fast.

"Harry, mate, you've been dating her for six months, you have to know by now that when she tells you to do something, you do it."

Harry stopped to think about this, wondering just how right Sirius was about Ginny's amount of control over him.

"Well most of the time when she tells me to do something, it involves kissing her, so I'm not really complaining." answered Harry carefully.

Ron's face flushed for a moment, then he seemed to restrain himself.

"Yeah well, sooner or later you're going to look back and realize she pretty much owns you, hell I was trying to ignore it and even I caught on."

Harry groaned inwardly at this, thinking about what certain people, mostly Slytherins, and Sirius, were going to have to say about this.

"Yeah, but there are worse people to be owned by, and besides, Ginny isn't as all-commanding as she thinks, remember she's been in love with me for about, her whole life, that gives me a surprising amount of leverage."

Ron and Harry both grinned at the same time, then launched into a conversation about the Chuddly Cannons chances of winning the league against Puddlemere United, personally Harry was rooting for Puddlemere, as his old Quidditch captain Oliver Wood was their starting keeper this season.

"Tell you what, I'll have Sirius get us season tickets to the Cannon's games, we can find out first hand."

"Really? That would be great! The two of us, back together, going to Quidditch games every week, hell you'll probably be playing for the Cannons in a few years, maybe then they'll win."

Harry smiled inwardly, glad that he had his best friend back. He loved Ginny more then anyone else alive, but she just wasn't Ron. It was a relief to have someone with whom he could talk about guy stuff, especially Quidditch, Ginny liked Quidditch, but not quite on the level that Harry and Ron did. She was thinking about trying out for the house team as a chaser once she got a decent broom, but she couldn't hold a candle to Ron and Harry's obsession with the sport.

Ginny and Hermione rejoined them shortly, Ginny curling up against Harry, Hermione doing the same with Ron, and the boys changed their topic of conversation to catching up on each other's springs, during which they had not spoken. It was, all in all, a very pleasant afternoon for the four of them, as normal teenagers, looking forward to a summer of freedom and Quidditch, and just being together as they were at Hogwarts, minus the classes, teachers, homework, and saving the world. They bought sweets from the trolly, an inordinate amount for their number, which Ron easily made up for, and played chess and exploding snap.

Just as the train stopped at King's Cross, Harry announced that he had one errand to run, and that he would be back shortly. This gained questioning looks from his friends, as he had not even told Ginny what he had planned, but she would probably figure it out soon enough anyway. Harry handed Ginny a pile of sweets, and took his leave, heading for the compartment where he knew Fred and George were sitting with their friend Lee Jordan, who was conveniently absent when he got there.

"Gred, Forge, I have a proposition for you." Harry thought it best if he softened the twins up first, it was going to be hard enough to get them to agree as it was.

"Harry! Our favourite future brother-in-law, what can we do for you?" asked Fred.

"Or to you?" asked George, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"You can take the thousand Galleons that I'm about to offer you without complaining."

"Bloody hell!"

"Why on Earth-"

"would you give us-"

"a thousand Galleons?"

"Because," answered Harry, getting dizzy from the twins switching back and forth "I'm getting a bit bored with Zonko's, and I reckon you two can do a better job at it."

Both of the twins were speechless, and apparently stunned as well, because neither batted and eye when Harry placed a bag containing one thousand gold coins in George's hand, closing the boys fingers around it, and walked out.

"So Harry, what's this errand you had to run?" asked Ginny when he rejoined them.

"Oh you'll find out eventually." answered Harry.

"You now I can make you talk Potter…" threatened Ginny.

"Yeah but you wont in front of your brothers and mother." Replied Harry cheekily.

The four friends walked out onto the platform, immediately spotting Mrs. Weasley, who enveloped them in bone-crushing hugs.

"Oh it's so good to see you all again." Mrs. Weasley was nearly in tears, and Harry knew that she was constantly going to be worried now.

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, we've got a couple of months yet before we need to worry." Harry was trying to comfort the woman who was practically his mother, but was cut short when he was caught in another hug. Harry looked up to see Sirius grinning at him, despite the fact that people were going out of their way to stay a few feet away from him.

"Ready to go home kid?" asked Sirius.

"Almost, just a few things to say." answered Harry, turning back to his friends.

"Ron, Hermione I guess I'll be seeing you pretty soon, damn, it feels good to be able to say that and really mean it." Harry was still getting used to the fact that he could see them tomorrow if he wanted.

"I'll be seeing you soon too Ginny, sorry, but wow it feels weird not to be saying goodbye for a couple of months at least." Harry was blushing now, especially due to Ron's sniggers.

Ginny just hugged him, kissed him on the cheek, and turned to leave with her family, Harry watched them for a moment, expecting to feel longing and loneliness as he had every other year, but strangely it didn't come. Well perhaps not so strangely, as he would be going to his own home with Sirius in a minute.

Sirius was laughing almost as hard as Harry was, when they walked into the parking lot, passing by the Dursley's, whom Harry had neglected to tell that he would not be returning to their house. Inspiration suddenly struck Harry, but he had no time to explain his plan to Sirius, so he merely whispered to his godfather to play along, before walking calmly over to his aunt and uncle.

"Hi Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, I'd like you to meet my godfather, Sirius Black, you know, the escaped murderer." Harry took a vindictive pleasure in watching the colour drain from their faces.

Sirius stepped forward, extending his hand to Vernon, smiling evilly.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Dursley, I'm afraid that I really don't have time to talk, but I'll make sure to stop by some time so that we can discuss the excellent job that you've done raising Harry while I was in prison. Good day."

Harry watched in amusement as Vernon's face cycled from pale white to violent red so quickly that he looked like a Christmas light. He and Sirius walked away then, leaving the Dursley's to wonder when an insane murderer might show up on their door step to seek retribution for the way Harry had been treated. The ironic part was, Harry had thought that he was playing a wonderful joke on them, but Sirius was being deadly serious, as was his namesake.

Sirius led Harry to the parking lot, and he was just starting to wonder why they did not simply Apperate or take a Port-Key, until he saw a very familiar motorcycle parked between two cars. Harry's face lit up in a smile as he remembered that the motor bike from his dreams had belonged to his godfather, and apparently still did. Sirius covertly shrunk down his trunk and Hedwig's cage, stowing them in the saddle bags. Then he handed Harry a helmet, showed him where to put his feet, and kicked the bike into life, allowing Harry time to climb on behind him, before they roared off down the streets of London.

Harry was having the time of his life, this was nearly as good as flying, the wind was whipping in his face, and Sirius was a recklessly fast driver. Two facts dawned on Harry in quick succession. First, that it would take them forever to get to Lily Lake this way, as it was quite far from London. About half a second later, Harry remembered that this motor bike could fly, and was just wondering when Sirius was going to take off, when his godfather hit the little silver button, which Harry recognized as an Invisibility Booster, and the bike took off into the air.

Now Harry really was flying, and he loved it. This was quickly becoming his favourite way to travel, and he was going to have to get Sirius to teach him how to use the magical motor bike. But he had all summer to get Sirius to teach him things, many of them things that responsible adults would not approve of, so Harry just sat back and enjoyed the ride, as he always did when flying. One thing was for sure, this was going to be a summer to remember.

_**A/N—Sorry this took me a while to get out, but I'm now working on two stories, Thank God Neville's A Coward, as well as Peace Through Strength of Arms. Consequently, my free time is nill, so go easy. There will most likely be four summer chapters, one of which will be Quidditch oriented, the other two will be divided between one for Harry/Sirius bonding, and the other Harry/Ginny fluff. And if you don't like it, Nicky and T-Dog will cut you! **_


	14. Quidditch Through The First Two Weeks

-1_"__School__'__s out for the summer! School__'__s out forever! No more pencils, no more papers, no more teacher__'__s dirty looks, __'__cause school__'__s out for the summer!__"—__School__'__s out for the Summer, ACDC_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Feckles, Proudly Present Chapter 14:**

**Let The Good Times Roll**

Harry was having the time of his life, everyday for two weeks straight. He was amazed the he and Sirius had found time to sleep with everything they had been doing. Harry had held true to his word, and asked Sirius about getting season tickets to the Cannon's games. When Sirius had asked why the Cannon's, Harry had told him about his and Ron's conversation, and Sirius had promptly bought tickets to both the Cannons, and Puddlemere United. Of course when Oliver Wood found out that Harry Potter was going to be at all of his games he had the tickets upgraded, so now he and Sirius were in the top box for every United match, often accompanied by various Weasleys. The only thing that Harry didn't like about that was that he had trouble concentrating on the match when Ginny was there.

So far they had been to eight Quidditch matches, and the Cannon's were tied with United for the league. Rumor had it that having Harry Potter and Sirius Black, currently the two best known wizards in Britain, had spurred the orange-clad flyers to play even harder then before. Ron was in his element at the Cannon's games, calling out every play, often before the professional announcer could, and knew more statistics then the coach, who was eying Ron with a professional eye by the third game. The third had been both boy's favorite by far, when the Cannon's had destroyed Pride of Portree, 400- 30. It had been a heavy Seeker match, which Harry loved, especially since he thought he could have matched both professionals in the air, and Ron's because it was the Cannon's best played match in forty years, and his and Harry's names had been written into Cannon history, along with everyone else in the top box.

The entire Weasley family had come to visit a few times, mostly for the Quidditch games started by Harry and Charlie. As soon as Charlie had found out that Harry had a real Quidditch Pitch in his back yard, he had insisted that they make teams and play it out. Harry and Charlie were the two best seekers Hogwarts had seen in living memory, and both were anxious to see who was better. The first such game had been more serious than any Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match that Harry could remember, they had had to invite a few extra people.

Harry's team consisted of himself at Seeker, Ron at Keeper, Ginny, Bill, and Neville as Chasers, and Remus and Tonks as Beaters. Tonks was an Auror, a friend of Dumbledore's, and she got on pretty well with the Weasleys, she had been in school at the same time as Bill and Charlie.

Charlie had himself as Seeker, Fred and George for Beaters, Sirius for a Keeper, and Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnate, and Angelina Johnson for Chasers, all oh whom had played with him in his Seventh year.

Charlie thought he had the advantage in experience, as all of his players except Sirius were currently on the Gryffindor Team, and no one of Harry's team except himself had ever played competitively, except Bill, who hadn't played in five years. Harry knew that he was at the advantage, because with his Firebolt he could out fly all seven of the others, alone. Not for noting was he the youngest seeker in a century. The best broom on Charlie's team was Sirius' Nimbus 2001, which did him little good playing Keeper, and Charlie himself was on a Cleansweep 8, which could keep up with Harry if he was carrying a giant on his broom.

The twins had invited their friend Lee Jordan over for the match, as he usually commentated the games at school. Harry was vaguely worried about what he would be saying without McGonnagal to sensor him, but then again, he was sitting fairly close to Mrs. Weasley, and half the players were her children. There had been a set of balls at the pitch when they had first toured it, the day after arriving, which Sirius told him belonged to James, and had been a gift from Harry's grandfather, who had played, briefly for England sixty or seventy years ago. Harry had taken to carrying the Snitch around with him, when they were home, occasionally playing with it. He told Sirius that he wanted to keep his reflexes sharp, but really, he just liked having something of father's to keep close to him, especially since it was Quidditch-related. It wasn't until after a week that Sirius told him his father used to do the same thing with the Snitch when he was bored.

Charlie was deep in conversation with Fred and George just before the game, and Harry knew that he was going to try to exploit their experience, and famed skill. Harry had been expecting that, and had a plan to compensate.

"Ok guys, Charlie is going to lean heavily on Fred and George to hammer us, but they haven't got a hope of hitting me, which they know. That means that they'll be gunning for our Chasers, Bill, Neville, you two will be taking most of their attention, because they don't know that Ginny can even fly, let alone that she's a spectacular Chaser."

Ginny beamed at his praise, but Bill looked concerned.

"So Harry even if Ginny is as good as you say, according to everything I've heard about those three Chasers, they could play pro easy." Bill looked to Ron for confirmation, and the younger Weasley nodded in the affirmative.

"That's true, those three are near unstoppable, but I think Ginny can make up for it if Remus and Tonks get their fair share of hammering in on them." Harry looked to his beaters, who thought for a moment.

"Aye Harry, we can keep them down, at least enough for Ginny to score a bit, it helps that she's small, she has a huge manoeuvrability advantage."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Harry "And that's what I want you to exploit Ginny, you can turn way tighter then anyone else here, except me, so use it to your advantage, just keep us within twenty or thirty points, and leave the rest to me."

Harry was smiling confidently, as were Ginny, Ron, and Neville, but the others looked skeptical.

"Look Harry, I know your good, but so is Charlie, and he was a lot more experience then you, wouldn't it be better not rely so much on you catching the Snitch?" asked Bill.

"How many dragons has Charlie out flown? Remember what you and Charlie both said, 'I made that Horntail look slow', and I'm gonna make Charlie look like he's standing still."

The match began a few minutes later, Harry and Charlie shook hands, both with cocky grins, and they took to the air.

"And its Angelina Johnson with the Quaffel, passes to Spinnate, Spinnate to Bell, Bell shoots, and the Quaffel is intersepted by Weasley, the one playing chaser. Weasley is tearing down the pitch, swerves around Johnson, dodges a Bludger, ah Spinnates got her blocked, tough luck- no! Weasley with a truly amazing move, flies over Spinnate and back towards the goals. Its just the Keeper in front of her, Weasley fakes left, shoots right, WEASLEY SCORES! 10-0 to Potter's team. And Black throws the Quaffel to Spinnate, boy she looks upset at being out flown by a third year, Spinnate dodges a Bludger, swerves around Longbottom, passes to Bell, Bell with the Quaffel its just her and Weasley in goal, oh a nice bit of Bludger work by Remus Lupin, and Bell has dropped the Quaffel, right into Longbottom's hands. Longbottom now with the Quaffel."

Harry had been half listening to the rest of the match, circling above, and sometimes through it, looking for the Golden Snitch. He could see Charlie out of the corner of his eye, quartering the field. The man was a very good Seeker, anyone could tell just by watching him fly, but Harry decided to put him to the test. He waited about three minutes, then took off toward his own goal posts, not as fast as he could, but still fast enough to garner attention.

"And look at Potter go, he must have seen something, he's tearing off towards his own end, and there's Charlie Weasley after him, just keeping up, that Cleansweep's no match for a Fireblot."

As soon as Harry heard Lee's magically magnified voice, he increased speed, but leaned into a curving dive, it wasn't a conventional Feignt, but it was entirely believable. Charlie was following as fast as he could push his broom, lying flat along the handle, but he still couldn't match Harry, who thought he was going quite slow. Harry turned the dive almost straight down, curving to his left, which allowed Charlie to close the gap considerably, until he was only a few feet behind Harry. Unfortunately this put him three feet off the ground, heading down at full speed. Harry pulled back sharply, shooting straight up into the air, and resuming his search for the Snitch.

"Ouch! That must really have hurt, and Weasley has been ploughed into the ground by Potter in the most brilliant Wronski Feignt that boy has ever pulled. And Weasley scores again! 50-10 to Potter's team."

Harry was smiling to himself, both because his ploy had worked, and because Ginny had just scored her fourth goal, to only one by Angelina Johnson, who was looking very angry. Then he saw it, floating just over Charlie, who was too dizzy to retake to the air just yet. Harry leaned into a very fast dive, pushing for every last bit of speed right towards Charlie. The twins immediately recognized his trademark catch, and began smacking the Bludegers at him with considerable fury. Harry actually had to let go of the broom and freefall for a moment to dodge one of them.

"What in the world is Potter doing? It's not enough to run Weasley into the ground at top speed, now he's dive-bombing the other Seeker? Wait a minute, he's seen it! Potter's seen the Snitch, and he's hurtling through play right now, dodges a Bluder and- OH MY GOD! Potter actually jumped off of his broom to avoid that Bludger from Fred Weasley, that absolutely the most crazy move I have ever seen, and Potter's hot on it, he reaching for it…"

Harry was indeed reaching for it, and at the rate he was going, he would catch the Snitch, and then plow into Charlie with something near terminal velocity, so Harry did the only thing he could think of. He jumped off the broom, again, but this time with no intention of getting back on. Harry was now free-falling towards Charlie, but a slight tangent, he felt his fingers brush against the Snitch, and closed his hand, the Snitch grasped firmly in his palm.

"He's done it! Potter caught the Snitch, but he's still- Bloody Hell!"

No one, not even Mrs. Weasley thought to correct his language, as most of them were saying similar things. George had hit a Bludger at him, a little too late. The ball had no chance of stopping him, but it did help him. Harry was still falling, but managed to wrap his left arm around the ball as it shot past him, letting it carry him ten feet to his left, where he let go.

Charlie was the first to reach him, but he saw every other person there running towards him as well, Ginny out in front, closely followed by Sirius and Mrs. Weasley.

"Your gonna get it bad Harry, that was the most amazing flying I've ever seen, but it was a little too dangerous to do it in front of my mum and Ginny, good luck."

Charlie quickly back away when Ginny and her mother arrived, both with nearly identical looks on their faces. Harry quickly understood, why all of Ginny's brothers were scared of her, and why everyone was scared of Mrs. Weasley.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?" both Ginny and Mrs. Weasley screamed the same thing at the same time, with the result that it was twice as loud, causing every male in the vicinity to wince, but none so much as Harry.

"That was the most stupidly reckless thing I've ever seen, you could easily have been killed, twice! And you could have gotten Charlie killed, twice! All over a stupid Quidditch game!" That was Mrs. Weasley, but was being nearly drowned out by her daughter.

"Harry don't ever do something that stupid again, you scared me half to death, you could have easily been killed, did it ever occur to you that it might not be worth your life to win a game?!" Ginny was actually the scarier of the two, because she was in the exact pose her mother used when yelling, and the two of them together looked like they were about begin a new reign of womanly terror over their family.

Sirius was standing just behind them, with Bill and Remus, all three trying very hard not to laugh, while the Weasley women continued to lecture him about irresponsible flying. Harry just laid there, no one seemed to notice yet that he was on the ground, idly wondering how could Ginny's eyes to glow like that when she wasn't furious with him. His apparent lack of interest didn't slow either woman, as they laid into him over nearly every aspect of the match he had just flown, proclaiming him reckless and stupid. It was, however, Sirius that was upsetting Harry at the moment, as he appeared to the point of tears, laughing at the way Harry was being told off by his girlfriend. Unfortunately for him, Mrs. Weasley noticed, and rounded on him.

"And you Sirius, you're supposed to be his guardian, what kind of parental figure would let a child fly like that, he could have been seriously injured, he could have died, and not only are you standing there laughing, but you encourage such behaviour."

This of course immediately sobered Sirius, and it was Harry's turn to laugh, which did nothing but further enrage Ginny, who was still yelling at him, something about how she would feel if, after everything he went through last year, he were to die playing Quidditch in his own back yard. Harry only knew one sure way to appease Ginny when she was this upset, but somehow he didn't think it a particularly good idea to do that now. Ginny would only yell at him more for going through everything only to be murdered by her brothers in his own back yard, after nearly dying playing Quidditch.

The whole row would really have been quite funny from a different perspective, as he was informed later by everyone not a Weasley before they left. It was, once Ginny got over her anger at him risking his life, and decided she was glad he had flown so well, one of the best days of Harry's life, and he looked forward to a less competitive game with Charlie later on. So far they had not had a chance, as Harry had been very busy, attending professional games, and shopping to fill his house.

That was possibly one of the most confusing things Harry had ever done. He had found the room that was meant to be his parents, and he and Sirius agreed that the only fitting thing to do was place a Preservation Spell on the room, and keep the door locked. There were about a dozen bedrooms, one that had been clearly meant for Harry, as it was set up for a small toddler, it was also right across the hall from his parent's room. Harry didn't think he wanted to live that close to the room his parent's should have shared, so he found a very nice room on the next floor, on the same hallway as the room Sirius had claimed, but far enough away that sound wouldn't carry, either way.

Harry had had a good bit of trouble deciding how to decorate his room. He had never had those kinds of options before. After a lot of thought, he decided that, since he had always thought of Hogwarts as his real home, he would do his room in a similar fashion. The furnature was easy, as the store in Diagon Ally actually carried furnishings designed to match the school dormitories. The Gryffindor colors, and the large Gryffindor banner above his bed, had been easy choices. But beyond that he was stuck; he owned various posters for the Chuddly Cannon's, a result of having Ron for a best friend, and several for Puddlemere United, since he was still friends with Oliver Wood, and attending all of their matches.

He just couldn't decide what to put where, and he didn't want the entire to room to be completely Quidditch oriented. There were also several pictures of his parents, two of the Weasleys, and several of Ginny and him, all of which would need a place. Not to mention bookcases for his school books, a stand for Hedwig, a display shelf for his Firebolt, and a large framed poster of Harry, Ron, and Ginny, with the Chuddly Cannons, that had been taken at the first game they went too.

Apparently they were the three most well known teenagers in Britain, along with Hermione, but she was on holiday with her muggle parents. The poster had been one of the best selling ever, and there had been an article in Quirky Quidditch magazine, talking about Harry and Ron's support of the Cannons, and how this affected their chanced of winning the league. It hadn't helped when another article came out soon after, stating that Harry was also supporting Puddlemere United, as the two teams were currently rivals. This was one kind of publicity that Harry really didn't mind too much, especially since it got him free merchandize from both teams.

Ginny had promised to come over and help him with his room, on three separate occasions. The problem with that was that Sirius somehow managed to convince Mrs. Weasley, all three times, that he would keep a close eye on the couple. Of course every time he promptly left as soon as Ginny arrived, with a wink to Harry. The result was that Ginny hadn't even made it up to his room, as they never got past the sofas in the living, which looked very much like the Gryffindor Common Room.

**A/N—Haha, Quidditch rules. I thought I did pretty well, for my first Quidditch match. So I hope you liked too, if you did, review. If you didn't, review anyway. Next chapter will be all about Harry and Ginny, so don't worry. This one and the next one will kinda like flashbacks of the first two weeks, then Harry's birthday, which is gonna be figgin huge. The rough outline is already 4000 words! So its easy the longest chapter yet. Anyway, review, and thank my teachers for the day off, or else you wouldn't be reading this for three more days. **


	15. Valuable Desicions

"_There comes a time… when one looks back, and upon careful examination of life, one realizes that there are few things of any real import. Of these things, the decisions we make are among the most valuable." – The WoLf At BaY_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and a faintly blushing Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 15:**

**Valuable Decisions **

The end of June was coming quickly, far too quickly for the friends and family of one Harry Potter. It would mean one more month down until the end of summer holidays, and the return to Hogwarts. But for Harry and his friends, it would also mark the end of their brief break from the war. They would have to get to the fight then, and not everyone would come through unscathed. The first three weeks of the summer had been fantastic, Harry and Sirius had been busy nearly everyday they had been home, and often included the Weasley's, Remus, and Tonks in their plans. Sirius had been delighted when he found out that Tonks fancied Remus, and had quickly reconciled with his cousin, vowing to get her together with the reluctant werewolf.

Harry Potter, always one to be different, was slowly counting down the days until the end of June, June 25th to be exact. That was a very important day to him, and to one other. It was important because December 25th of last year had been the best day of his life, and June 25th would be the six month anniversary of that wonderful day. He had been making subtle plans since the tenth, wanting to have a perfect day with Ginny. He could still remember their first date in perfect detail, the entire night, actually. For a hefty sum of Galleons, however, Harry was able to have the night's memory withdrawn from his head, and placed in a small, blessedly inexpensive pensive. He hadn't tried it out yet, it was something that he and Ginny should do together.

"Morning Paddy." Yawned Harry, coming down to breakfast; he had taken to abbreviating Sirius' nickname, mostly because it infuriated him.

"One of these days kid, I'm going to show why McGonagall was afraid of me for seven years." Growled Sirius in response to the nickname.

"I always thought it was because you were so ugly, but that might have been why everyone else was scared of you, it's confusing sometimes." Retorted Harry.

Sirius only snorted at his eggs and bacon, too tired yet to get into one of their little fights.

"That's horribly in-polite you know, and it really sets a horrible example." Stated Harry matter-of-factly.

"Your manners, young Harry, bear room only for improvement." Responded Sirius, apparently made more alert by the coffee, and the challenge.

"I'll have you know that my manors are exemplary, just ask my _girlfriend_." Harry placed extra emphasis on the word 'girlfriend', because although Sirius was famous, rich, and according to himself, handsome, he had yet to find himself a girlfriend.

"Yeah well, she's been in love with you since she was two, and is probably the reincarnated spirit of your mother, so her opinion is just a little biased, don't you think?"

"You're just jealous, because no one's been in love with you since they were two, have they snuffles?"

"Oh yes Harry, yes, I'm terribly jealous, I can't imaging how hard it must be to land a girl who's been carrying around a picture of you, which she cut out of Witch Weekly, since she was ten."

"Ginny's been carrying around a picture of me since she was ten?" asked Harry, intrigued.

"At least one, usually more, I honestly thought you knew." Wheezed Sirius, in between bursts of laughter.

"Yes, well, speaking of which, today is Ginny's and my six month anniversary, so go away."

"Very polite you are, especially when asking me to leave you alone all day, with Molly Weasley's daughter, to do who-knows what, when I'm supposed to be watching you."

"Yeah well, I figured you could handle the outrageous moral dilemma."

"Morals I can overcome, Molly's temper is another matter entirely."

"I agree with you on that one, but she's nothing on an angry Ginny, which you will be facing if you don't go."

"Fortunately for you, I have a date today, one which will require me to absent for most of the day, somehow I don't think I'll have the presence of mind to mention that to Molly; lucky you."

"Knew I kept you around for a reason Sirius."

"Oh yeah, couldn't have anything to do with me being your legal guardian, or all the fun we have, or the fact that your other option is going to the Dursley's, no of course not, you keep me around so you can have the house to yourself with your girlfriend whenever you want."

"Yeah that about sums it up." Quirked Harry.

"Just don't do anything I would do, I'm far too young to be a grand-godfather, plus Molly will kill me."

"Right you are Sirius, not to mention the fact that I would have to support my fourteen year old pregnant girlfriend, my newborn child, and deal with Voldemort trying to kill me, but those trivial problems pale in comparison to what Molly would do to you."

Harry and Sirius both managed to keep straight faces, for about thirty seconds, before both broke out into huge fits of side-splitting laughter. This was a frequent thing for them to do, both agreed that it was an excellent way to start the day, next to coffee that is. Harry had never had coffee before, but now he couldn't figure out how he had ever gotten through the day without it; especially the days when Oliver Wood had woken him up at four in morning for Quidditch practice.

Sirius, to Harry's great surprise, had actually not been kidding when he said he had a date that day. He was usually pretty good about leaving the house for a few hours if Harry asked him to, but not without a lot of teasing and feet dragging. However today Sirius was out the door and gone before Harry had even properly registered his godfather saying goodbye, leaving Harry to wonder how he was supposed to spend an entire day with Ginny, and not wonder who Sirius was on a date with.

Luckily for Harry, the answer to that little problem presented itself nicely in the form of Ginny herself, because once she arrived, Harry's mind could think of nothing else, and he strongly suspected that he would never be able to think properly again. Suddenly Harry really didn't care who Sirius was with, and he probably wouldn't have noticed if his godfather came waltzing through the door with Mrs. Figg, as Ginny was his only all consuming thought.

She looked completely different than she had at the Yule Ball. Last December, Ginny had been looking like royalty, classy and beautiful. Today she was dressed much more casually, of course, in denim shorts and a tank top, but even in plain clothes she could stop a rampaging dragon in its tracks. Her hair was shining brightly, in pigtails, which both surprised and enthralled Harry. He never would have thought Ginny would wear her hair in anything she considered to be a childish manor, but it made her look really, really sexy. Something of his feelings must have been showing on his face, because Ginny blushed slightly, making her glow in the morning sunlight, and giggled.

"See something you like Harry?" she asked coyly.

"Yeah," gulped Harry "you could say that."

Ginny giggled again. "Good, then invite her in so she can start kissing you."

This snapped Harry to his senses, and he quickly drew Ginny into his arms, backing up slightly so that they were inside the house. Ginny kicked the door shut behind her, and the two were kissing, rather deeply. Harry had of course been expecting this, actually he planned on spending most of the day kissing Ginny, in various places around the house, but still, even after six months, every time he kissed her was like a new experience. Every time felt like it was the first time, because every time, he realized that he loved her just a little bit more than the last time.

Ginny was losing herself in Harry's arms, again. This had become a frequent occurrence when she was with him, which was quite often, since the end of the school year. It both scared and excited her, this feeling of sheer contentment, because of what it meant. Ginny was fairly certain that she was in love with Harry, she had known that since she was twelve, but the way she felt when they were close like this, and the same look she saw in his eyes, told her beyond a doubt that he was just as in love with her. The reason it scared her, was because she was finding herself having thoughts about her boyfriend that she didn't think she was ready to have yet, she was only just fourteen after all. Ginny didn't know if Harry was having any of the same thoughts, but if he was, he never made any indication, he seemed content to just kiss her, never wanting more, or at least, never showing it. This made Ginny love him even more, because he respected her so much as to ignore his own impulses, Ginny knew enough about boys, she lived with six of them, to know that Harry's hormones must be going crazy.

Harry was swimming in a sea of euphoria, he could spend the rest of his life just kissing Ginny, and not ever have any regrets. Let whatever would happen to rest of the world happen, as long as he was kissing Ginny, nothing else at all mattered. He knew he was in love, knew it with a certainty that he had never felt before. He also knew that Ginny loved him back, and that she was the only girl he could ever feel this way about. Harry could never be happy with any other girl, and he would not be truly content until he had changed her last name… _'Changed her last name' where did that come from? Aren't I a little young to be thinking about getting married?_ There was that annoying voice in his head again, trying to tell him that he was still asleep or something, and that there was no way he could possibly deserve to be in love with Ginny.

Harry broke the kiss, causing Ginny, to pout, which just made Harry kiss her again, briefly.

"You know if you keep pouting like that, we'll never get to anything but snog the whole day."

"Are you saying that you have something better to do than kiss me Potter?" asked Ginny, trying to sound angry, though the playful tone of her voice, and the fact that she knew exactly what he meant, ruined the effect.

"Believe it or not, yes. We could be playing Quidditch." Answered Harry with a straight face.

Ginny really did get angry at this, and swatted at his head.

"Harry Potter, you did not just say that you would rather play Quidditch than kiss me!" yelled an angry redhead.

"What if I did?"

"Than you can go and play Quidditch by yourself, while I go home."

Harry literally paled at this, he definitely did not want Ginny going home right away, if ever.

"To hell with Quidditch," Harry's fingers were, of course, crossed behind his back "I'm yours for the day milady." Harry made a mock bow.

Ginny moved into his arms again, standing on her toes so she could whisper in his ear.

"I'm yours forever."

Harry was kissing her again, having just heard the best words of his life. He didn't care about all the other stuff he wanted to say at the minute, because Ginny had pretty much summed it up in three words.

"Forever." Echoed Harry as they separated their lips again.

"That was kinda what I wanted to tell you Gin," started Harry, sitting down with her on the couch that they had made their way over to while kissing and mock-arguing. "I'm positive that I'm head-over-heels in love with you, but its more than that."

Ginny's face had lit up like a candle when Harry said he was in love with her, she had known it of course, but this was the first time he actually said it to her. Then her face had fallen at the word 'but', and now she just looked curious. Harry had thought that he would be feeling nervous right now, but strangely he felt completely at ease, and continued without pause.

"I don't think I'll ever able to love another person the way I love you Gin, I think we're soul mates. And I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with you."

Ginny was close to a heart attack, she had always dreamed of being the princess rescued by the Boy-Who-Lived, who lived with him happily ever after. Then Harry really had rescued her, and subsequently ignored her for two years. So the worst part of her fantasy had come true, but not any of the good parts. Now though, she really could spend the rest of her life with Harry, and she desperately wanted to. Ginny could see in Harry's eyes that he desperately wanted her to as well.

"I feel exactly the same way Harry, I could never love anyone else, not the way I love you. And as soon I graduate Hogwarts, you are changing my last name to Potter."

"Yes ma'am!" answered Harry, before re-engaging his girlfriend in some serious snogging.

They ended up lying on top of each other on the couch, arms wrapped firmly around each other, kissing passionately. Somewhere, over the course of the next four hours, both Ginny and Harry were thoroughly ruffled, Ginny's hair was a mess, and both teens shirts had moved up a great deal. Ginny was still covered, but Harry was having a very good time exploring the soft skin of her back and stomach.

Unfortunately, Sirius, never one to stick to plans, or knock for that matter, though he did live there, had decided to come home early with his date. It took him a few minutes to come to grips with what he was seeing. He knew that Harry and Ginny were close, but that didn't mean that he ever had, or ever wanted to for that matter, see them together, intimately. And from his angle, it looked a lot like Ginny's shirt was off.

"Ahem!"

The happy couple fairly flew off the couch, landing hard on the floor, though Harry made sure that he landed first, and that Ginny fell on top of him. They were both blushing furiously, and looking anywhere but Sirius or each other. Even the mystery of Sirius's date was forgotten.

"Harry, what did I tell you about doing things that would cause Molly to kill me?" asked Sirius.

Harry blushed even harder, now rivaling any Weasley.

"Your right Sirius, but the thing of it is, well Ginny was already pregnant, I just wanted to see how you would take the idea."

Sirius head flicked back and forth between Harry and Ginny, clearly not believing what he had just heard.

"Sorry Sirius, but it's true, I just found out for sure yesterday, Mum's going to kill you, she kinda knows too. Sorry." Ginny had such a tone of remorse in her voice, it was impossible for Sirius to tell if she was telling the truth.

"It was nice knowing you Padfoot, make sure you leave everything to me and Ginny, we're gonna need it, we're having twins."

"Twins?!" Sirius half-squeaked, half shouted.

"Yeah, hey Harry, we should name them Sirius and James, I love those names, and it will be a fitting tribute to two fallen Marauders."

This was just too much for Sirius, as he promptly fainted, hitting the floor hard. Harry turned to Sirius's mystery date, feeling that he should explain himself, but was simply too shocked when he registered who it was.

"Hello Harry." Spoke the lady.

Harry and Ginny turned to each other at the same time, equal looks of shock on their faces.

**A/N—I'm a bad, bad person, I wont be telling who it is, not yet anyway. And man, who would have thought that I would knock up Ginny, poor Sirius, he just met a girl and now Molly's gonna kill him. Oh well, at least his name shall live on in one of Harry's kids, hope they're not both girls, that would be weird, girls named James and Sirius. Next update on Christmas Day, unless your talking about PTSOA, I'll be updating that tomorrow, or today, depending on when I post this. **


	16. What Happens Down in Mexico

_"If you ever got a tattoo of a girls name, but then later found out it was a guy… you might be a redneck" –I made up this one, but credit goes to Jeff Foxworthy for the 'You might be a Redneck' jokes._

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 16:**

**What Happens Down in Mexico, Stays in Mexico.**

Albus Dumbledore left the Ministry's Embassy in Mexico City, excited and a little nervous, it was the first time in over fifty years that he had done something like this. He had traded his colorful, flowing wizards robes, for more Muggle-like clothing, he was going to need to blend in for the next week. The aged Headmaster was wearing a light green, short sleeved, button-up shirt, faded cargo shorts, and sandals, with a pair of sunglasses perched on his long nose. Albus Dumbledore was on vacation.

It had become very obvious, after his state of near exhaustion following the Third Task that he was in desperate need of some un-interrupted rest. So he had bought himself a week long vacation in Mexico, some sun, and relaxation would soon have him fighting fit, Minerva could handle things for a week. Dumbledore was staying in a muggle hotel near the beach in Caabo; he loved muggles almost as much as Arthur Weasley, and took every opportunity to be around them.

The hotel was large, about fifty floors, and was a family oriented resort. Albus had chosen the place for its size, with dozens, if not hundreds, of families running around, no one was likely to give a lone old man a second thought. Only the desk clerk paid him any mind, though that might have been due to his speech, a British accent, mixed with the experiences of hundreds of other languages, but that was all. The room was very simple, but the beach was fantastic. Dumbledore selected a reclining chair, picking a sunny spot, he settled down to read a muggle spy novel, sunscreen layered liberally on his long nose.

While Professor Dumbledore was enjoying the first day of his vacation, two of his students were picking their jaws up off the floor, as well as one's godfather. It was an enormous shock for the two, mostly because they thought that Sirius would have better taste than that, and because Ginny really wanted to hurt this woman. No one lied about her boyfriend like that and got away with it, especially when she was lying about Harry and another girl, some reporter, couldn't even get her facts straight.

Rita Skeeter was looking very pleased with herself as the two shocked teens gaped at her, in her mind she had just stumbled upon the story of a lifetime, even if it wasn't true. Harry Potter's fourteen year old girlfriend being pregnant was easily front page worthy, especially with all eyes being on him already from the events of June. This one story would make her career, and she knew just how to write it, the only problem was, Potter would squeal on her and she would be in Azkaban for a while.

"Oh Harry it really is delightful to see you again, it feels like we haven't talked in ages. I wonder, could I get a statement from the two of you about the pregnancy?"

Harry and Ginny just stared at Rita, hoping for all they were worth that she was kidding. It certainly didn't appear so; the way she was looking expectantly back and forth between them was probably a bad omen.

"Now Rita, what was our deal about you writing anything for another year? I would really hate to have to call some of my Auror friends, well not really." answered Harry, hoping beyond hope that Rita would take the hint.

"Oh don't worry about that Harry; with the money I'll be making off this story, I'll be able to buy my way out of Azkaban easily, toodles." Rita slipped out the door before Harry could say anything else, already talking to her acid-green Quik Quotes Quill.

Harry turned to face his girlfriend, all color draining from his face.

"Your mums going to kill us, and then your brothers are gonna dig me up and kill me again." said Harry in total seriousness.

"Relax Harry, no one in their right mind is going to take anything she writes seriously, speaking of him, maybe we should wake him up and let him know I'm not pregnant?"

Harry had to suppress a fit of laughter when he remembered the spur-of-the-moment prank that they had pulled on Sirius before noticing Rita.

"Honestly though, what on Earth could have compelled him to go out with Rita?" asked Harry.

"Well, he has been in Azkaban for twelve odd years, poor guy doesn't know any better, and besides, not every guy has taste as good as yours Harry." replied Ginny.

"Only you could find a way to insult Sirius and Rita, and compliment me and yourself in one sentence."

"And I'm modest too."

"Oh yes, so very modest, now let's wake him up, your majesty."

"Be careful Harry, I could get used to being royalty." said Ginny cheekily.

"You mean you're not already used to it?" asked Harry.

"Well how long have I been royalty anyway Harry?"

"Six months exactly, today's our anniversary, remember?"

All thoughts of waking up Sirius were lost for the next fifteen minutes, as the young couple returned to their previous place on the couch, and resumed snogging each other's brains out. Needless to say, Sirius was not happy when he finally did return to consciousness. He was very proud of his godson's pranking ability however.

"That was very good for a spur-of-the-moment thing, lucky she's such a good actor, or it wouldn't have worked." said Sirius after he calmed down.

"Yeah she is good, but her mums going to kill us all when she sees's the Prophet tomorrow." said Harry.

"Why? What's going to be in it?" asked a confused Sirius.

"Knowing Rita, a ten page article on my pregnant girlfriend." answered Harry.

"Didn't you tell her it was just a joke?!" yelled a very worried Sirius.

"Sirius, only you would have fallen for it, the rest of the world knew it was a joke, and Rita doesn't care, she'll do anything to make Harry's life miserable, and to print."

"What do you mean make his life miserable? She's a nice enough woman." asked an even more confused Sirius.

"Didn't read the papers much last year, did you Paddy?" asked Harry. Sirius was so confused he didn't even notice the use of his nickname.

"No, I was a little preoccupied, why, what happened?"

"Well there were about ten vicious articles by Rita, all about how Harry was crazy and in a love triangle with Hermione and Victor Krum, even after we started dating, and then Hermione started blackmailing Rita when she discovered that Rita is an unregistered Animagus." Ginny told him.

"Really?" asked Sirius.

"Yes really, do you think I just made all that up?!" yelled Ginny.

"Well after this morning, it's hard to tell if you're lying or not." answered Sirius.

"You'll see tomorrow." said Ginny.

"Sirius, can you give Tonks a call? I'd love to have Rita arrested before she prints this." asked Harry.

"Let me see if she's still in." Sirius headed off to the fireplace.

"You know she's going to make you look like a tramp, right?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I know, think I might get in trouble for breaking into the Ministry and killing Rita Skeeter?" asked Ginny.

"If you did, I could probably get Fudge to let you off, I think." answered Harry.

"My hero." replied Ginny just as Sirius came back in.

"No joy Harry, everyone's gone, that article's going to be out tomorrow, we'll just have to head Molly off and warn her, Ginny, you do that."

Harry was nodding vigorously along with Sirius, not wanting to be anywhere near Mrs. Weasley when she found out about this.

"Oh this is just wonderful, the famous Harry Potter and Sirius Black, daring rescuers and Death Eater Hunters, and they're scared of my mother." said Ginny in frustration and amusement.

"Not scared, petrified more like." corrected Harry.

"Yeah," put in Sirius "Azkaban and the Death Eaters are nothing compared to your mum, she's only just behind Voldemort on the list of things that scare me."

"Wusses." muttered Ginny as she kissed Harry goodbye before flooing home for the night.

"Well Harry, how do you want to spend your last night alive?" asked Sirius.

"Well, there's an awful lot of Butterbeer out there that I haven't drunk yet." supplied Harry.

"Here here, next stop, Leaky Cauldron, unless you prefer the Three Broomsticks?"

"We're going to die, who cares what pub we go to?"

"That's the spirit Harry, to Hogsmeade we go!"

Albus Dumbledore awoke at about the same time that Harry and Sirius left Potter Manor, although it was actually the next morning in Mexico, thanks to the time difference. He had an extremely sore head, and the room spinning sickeningly. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a hangover this bad, it must have been at least fifty or sixty years. The hangover potion that was stashed in his bag did stop the spinning, and eased his headache, but that only led him to more problems. Specifically the tattoo that now adorned his left forearm, which now bore the name "Terry" in large, red letters.

"Who in Merlin's name is Terry? And why did I get her name tattooed on my arm?" Dumbledore asked himself. Dumbledore set off in search of breakfast, and determined to discover the mysterious Terry.

Harry awoke the morning after, feeling very much worse then he had after the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He had drunk Butterbeer before; not in such large quantities as last night, but enough to know that there was no way he should be hung over. He suspected that Sirius might have slipped him some Ale at some point, or something stronger. His head felt like it was about to explode, and he could barely see the ceiling, the room was spinning too fast. Harry tried calling to Sirius, but he couldn't manage to speak very loud without hurting his own ears. He settled for knocking the lamp off of his bedside table, hoping that the noise might wake Sirius.

"Cut out that bloody racket!" yelled Sirius, causing Harry's eardrums to ring in protest.

"Shut it Padfoot, no need to scream." called Harry.

"Oh your awake, here drink this."

Harry felt a bottle being pushed to his lips, and downed the vile contents as fast as he could, even managing not to vomit any of it back up. His eyesight cleared, and everything stopped spinning, but his head still ached, and so did his chest.

"Sirius, what the bloody hell happened last night? There's no way I feel like this from Butterbeer." asked Harry.

"Well that's because its not from Butterbeer, you er, kind of switched to Ale after an hour or so, not sure how we got into the Hogshead, but that bartender will serve anything to anyone, so long as they pay." explained Sirius.

Harry groaned in regret, and in pain, his chest really hurt, almost like he had been burned.

"Did we have a fight or something?" asked Harry.

"Not that I can recall, why do you ask?"

"Because my chest hurts like bloody hell, like I've been hit with a Scorching Hex or something."

"Let me have a look." said Sirius.

Thirty seconds later he was rolling on the floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, making Harry wonder just how much his godfather had drunk last night.

"If you're done mopping the floor with your hair, maybe you could tell me exactly what is so funny?" said an annoyed Harry.

"Sorry, congratulations Harry, I didn't even get my first one till I was nineteen, and James when he was twenty, you beet us both!" exclaimed Sirius.

"What are you on about?" asked Harry.

"Your first tattoo Harry, and I must say that 'Draco' does look very nice across your chest." answered Sirius.

Harry promptly fainted, scared out of his mind at what he was capable of when drunk. He was awoken shortly after by a still laughing Sirius, if anything, his mirth seemed to have increased.

"I can't believe you fell for that one Harry, my my, revenge is sweet, teach you to make me think Ginny was pregnant, I still got it!" gloated Sirius.

"Ha ha bloody ha! You've had your laugh, now tell me why my chest really hurts."

"Because of your tattoo." said Sirius.

"I though that was a joke?" asked Harry.

"No, that part about you having 'Draco' tattooed across your chest was the joke. You really did get cut."

"Oh no, what does it really say?" asked Harry, dreading the answer.

"Well you've got 'GMW' right above your heart, and it's in red-orange lettering. Hmmm, 'GMW', now what could that stand for?" asked Sirius.

"Your never going to let me hear the end of this are you?" asked Harry, sighing back into his pillows.

"Of course I am, in a bout thirty or forty years, I can't believe you got Ginny's initials tattooed into your chest, this is too good." laughed Sirius.

"Oh yes, and I can't wait till I get to explain to Molly that you got me drunk and let me get a tattoo, we're both gonna die today, what with this and Rita's article."

"Isn't that why we went out in the first place? Cause we were gonna die today?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, but something tells me we've only managed to draw out our deaths."

"True, but look at it this way, if you survive, and your might because Molly loves you, Ginny's going to be all over you for life. Your in for it Harry, they'll be no getting rid of her now."

"And why would I ever want to get rid of her?" asked Harry.

"Six brothers who are not going to be happy about seeing their baby sister's initials carved over your heart. Can I have your Firebolt when they kill you?"

"You'll already be dead remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot, well no sense in dragging it out, lets go die together."

_Protecting the Wizarding World, but not his girlfriend._

_This reported, along with the entire Daily Prophet staff, would like to offer our sympathy to young Miss Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter's girlfriend of six months. The two have been dating steadily since the Yule Ball held at Hogwarts School December last, and have been reported as "quite close" by friends. _

_Harry Potter has long been seen as the savior of the Wizarding World, and lately as a protector of its citizens, however it seems that Mr. Potter was unable to protect his fourteen year old girlfriend, who is now three weeks pregnant. This reporter personally witnessed the young couple informing Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and legal guardian. The two were also discussing names, and how to tell the Weasley family. _

_Young Ginny is expected to deliver twins sometime in March or April of next year, and she and Harry have already decided on the names of James, after Harry's father, and Sirius, after Harry's godfather, or Lily, after Harry's mother. It is not known yet whether Harry intends to marry Miss Weasley, though that __would certainly be the honorable thing to do. The Daily Prophet wishes these two the best of luck in raising their children, and frowns upon their complete lack of self control, and caution. _

_Rita Skeeter, reporting for the Daily Prophet. _

_**A/n—O.K. length wise it's the usual length, but the word count is low for me, I've been very busy and very sick the last two weeks, so I just wanted to get you guys something, the next part will be out soon, I hope. Leigh I'm sorry I didn't send this to you, but I know its bad and I don't want to wait, I promise I shall not bypass you again. Everyone please forgive me. **_


	17. Dun, Dun, Dun

"_When in doubt, duck, if that doesn't work, goodbye." _

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 17:**

**Dun Dun Dun…**

"CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE THAT IRRISPONSIBLE, GETTING HIM DRUNK?! AND A TATTOO?! HE IS FITHTEEN YEARS OLD FOR MERLINS SAKE! HE'S NOT JAMES SIRIUS, HE'S JUST A BOY, AND NOW YOU'VE PROBABLY SCARED HIM FOR LIFE, NOT TO MENTION LETTING SKEETER PUBLISH THAT AWEFUL STORY, MAKES MY DAUGHTER LOOK LIKE A TRAMP, AND EMBARRASING THE LIFE OUT OF HARRY. HAVE YOU NO SENSE…"

Mrs. Weasley carried on in the same fashion for over half an hour, liberally laying in to Sirius. Harry was sitting on the sidelines, trying not to laugh. His godfather had been right about one thing though, all of Molly's anger was focused on Sirius, in fact she seemed sympathetic towards Harry, not angry at him at all. Harry didn't think it was very fair, but he was perfectly happy to sit back and watch for the time being.

None of the Weasley children knew exactly what was going on, they had been sent to their rooms by their furious mother the moment that Sirius and Harry had arrived, but judging by how loudly she was yelling, they could guess enough. Harry knew what Fred and George would think of him having a tattoo, and that they would do everything they could to get their own, and the twins probably wouldn't be too upset that it was Ginny's initials, they had always approved of the couple. Ron might be a touch jealous, but otherwise wouldn't care too much, and Percy wouldn't notice, he was so busy at work, with the Ministry in chaos. It was Charlie and Bill's reactions that scared him; the two eldest Weasley brothers hadn't seen or contacted Harry since the first task, for which Charlie had been present, and Harry was very nervous about how they would react to his relationship with their baby sister. Not to mention his new body art.

"Mrs. Weasley it's really not that big of a deal, I mean it's not as if Sirius planned on any of this, and I did kind of suggest that we go out, so it's as much my fault as it is his." Said Harry, knowing that he was taking his life into his own hands.

"That's as it may be, but the fact remains that Sirius needs to show some kind of responsibility, don't you Sirius?"

"We've already been over this Molly, while I don't approve of underage drinking, I will not try to shelter Harry from life, it's a little late for that, and I'm sorry but tattoos are just cool."

Sirius had to duck at this point, because Mrs. Weasley chose that time to throw a frying pan at Sirius' head. The handle just barely grazed the side of his head, causing him to panic and Dissapperate, rather than stay and trust to his reflexes. Mrs. Weasley sighed, though whether in frustration or resignation Harry didn't know.

"Well, I suppose that might have taught him something of a lesson, oh Harry, Ron and the twins are upstairs if you want to spend the day with them."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley, I'll just head on up." Said Harry, a little disturbed by her sudden calm appearance. Just moments ago she had been furious and throwing frying pans.

Harry found Ron, Fred, and George in the twins room, apparently they had been listening to their mother go off on Sirius. Fred was just saying that he loved listening to his mum yell at someone else for a change.

"Oy! Harry! What are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be down stairs getting yelled at?" asked George when he saw Harry in the doorway.

"Well gee George you sure know how to make someone feel welcome. And to answer your question, your mum's not mad at me."

"Why not?" asked Ron. "If any of us got drunk or got a tattoo, Mum would kill us, bring us back to life, and kill us again."

"Yeah she's always loved Harry more than any of us hasn't she?" said Fred

"Bleedin disgrace it is, we're her own flesh and blood." Said George, adopting a look of mock indignation.

"To think, our own dear mother has sold out her own sons for a mere-" Fred tried to continue before Harry interrupted them.

"Son-in-law?" asked Harry, causing all three Weasleys to nearly fall to the floor.

"Harry, please, please, please tell me that you and Ginny did not sneak off and get married." Said Ron who was the first to recover.

"No, we didn't get married, but I might as well be your guys brother-in-law, just gonna take a while."

The way the twins looked at each other made Harry instantly regret his words.

"Awww ickle-Harrykins-"

"And ickle-Gin-Gin-"

"Are all grown up-"

"And ready to tie the knot-"

"Stuff it you two or I'll have to rethink my investment." The twins instantly sobered, and then grinned again.

"Right you are sir-"

"So sorry to have disturbed you-"

"And make light of your touching romance."

"Good day Mr. Potter." And with that both Fred and George left the room, presumably to go tease Ginny about the same thing.

"So what's this tattoo of any way?" asked Ron once he and Harry were alone.

"Well err… that's the thing…"

"What? Its not like a ferret or anything odd is it?" asked Ron.

"No, nothing like that, it's just, well, I kind of got Ginny's initials permanently written over my heart."

Ron's jaw hit the floor with an audible 'thud'. At nearly the same time, there was a small squeak behind them, and Harry turned to see his girlfriend standing in the doorway that Fred and George had purposely left open. She was just about to say something when Mrs. Weasleys booming voice called her only daughter downstairs. She gave Harry a look that clearly meant that they would talk about this later, before turning down the stairs to her mother.

"There'll be no getting rid of her now." Said Ron, who had managed to pick himself up off the floor.

"You know that's exactly what Sirius said this morning."

"Really? What did you tell him?"

"I asked him why I would ever want to get rid of Ginny. I mean I can barely wait to wake up in the morning on the off chance that I might see her."

"You got it bad mate, just remember that Ginny has a lot of brothers, including me."

"Oh your one of her brothers? Well now I'm just terrified. Bill and Charlie, not to mention Fred and George, I can handle, but if Ron the Mighty is going to be coming after me… well now I'm just too scared to even think about Ginny.

"Oy!" yelled Ron as he threw a pillow at Harry's head.

Harry took off out of the room and down the stairs, Ron hot on his heels. Coincidentally they ended up out by the broom shed, which of course meant that a flying contest was in order. Harry's Firebolt, was still at his own Quidditch Pitch, so he just used one of the Weasleys old Comet 260's, it wasn't that good, but Harry still managed to beat Ron, who was using a Cleansweep 7. They weren't really playing, just flying around, and daring each other into harder and harder maneuvers. Eventually, as usual, Harry won out with a daring, high speed Wronski Feint; Ron simply could not match Harry's skill and control at high velocities.

The only problem was that a Comet 260 was no Firebolt, not even close, and the lesser broom simply couldn't handle the high speeds and tight turns that Harry was used to. It was on a particularly nice dive that this problem manifested itself. Harry was diving daringly fast from about four hundred feet up, and tried to pull out at about ten feet off the ground. On his Firebolt, or even on his old Nimbus 2000, this wouldn't have been a problem, but far too late Harry realized that the old Comet was going to need a lot more room to pull out. The thought barely had time to register when the broom, and Harry, plowed into the ground at a very high speed, with a sickening crunch.

"HAAAARRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" and then the world went black for Harry Potter.

After the Chamber of Secrets and the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Ginny was pretty much used to seeing her boyfriend in dangerous situations, especially when flying was involved. She knew he was a spectacular flyer, and that his specialty was diving. But she also knew that he was not going to be able to pull out of that particular dive on the old '260 he was flying, which was why she screamed when she saw how low he was going, and how fast.

Fortunately her scream brought her mother running, and if there was one woman in the world who knew exactly what to do with a flying accident. Having five Quidditch-obsessed sons, and one Quidditch-obsessed daughter, would do that to a mother. However of all her children, only Charlie had ever played Seeker, and he had never been one for diving the way Harry was. So when Ron and Ginny told her what had happened, and she saw the extent of the damage, Mrs. Weasley decided it would be better to take the matter to the only professional Quidditch Healer she knew, the Hogwarts Matron, Madame Pomfrey.

The emergency port-key that Dumbledore had given the Weasley family was only supposed to be used in case of a Death Eater attack, but Mrs. Weasley decided that Harry's condition merited the same emergency status.

Minerva McGonagall was in her office, now the center of activity of Hogwarts Castle. With Albus still on his vacation, she, as Deputy Headmistress, was in charge of running the school. This was a surprisingly time-consuming task during the summer holidays, with a host of teachers planning their next year's syllabus, and the Ministry doing reviews of the castle, O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. meetings, and of course, the cleaning and repairing of anything in the massive castle that warranted such treatment. Fortunately the over time paid very well.

Even with all the things that needed doing, it was mostly paper work, or sit-down meetings with Ministry representatives, quite boring for most people. That was why McGonagall nearly fell out of her chair when an alarm went off, indicating that one of the many emergency pork-keys had been activated. It was the first time that this had happened all summer, and no one had really been expecting it, at least not for another month or two. Once Minerva had picked herself up off the floor, she went to check the little silver instrument that Albus had left in her care, the one that would show her whose emergency port-key had been activated. When she saw that it was the Weasleys key she immediately took off towards the Infirmary, where the port-key would deposit its passengers.

As she ran down the corridors, in a manner most unbefitting a woman of her age and station, she pulled out a small mirror, speaking the name 'Alastor Moody', and called out "Firestorm, firestorm, firestorm!" 'Firestorm' was the code-phrase to indicate an attack on the Weasley family, due to their fire-red hair. The two-way mirror connected directly to Moody, who was back working with the Aurors, which meant that a squad of at least a dozen of the Ministry's best would be Apperating to the Burrow at any moment.

Everyone who had been issued one of Dumbledore's emergency port-keys had their own code-phrase, and it was up to whoever was monitoring them to get the word out. 'Phoenix-fire' was the one code that no one wanted to hear, for it meant an attack on Harry Potter. 'Blackstorm' meant that Sirius was in danger, and 'Sandstorm indicated an attack on the Granger family. It was a sorry state that more port-keys had been issued to Harry's friends and family than to the Minister's staff, which should have been the real targets.

Minerva was just nearing the Hospital Wing when her heart nearly stopped. Moody's rasping voice came in loud and clear over the mirror.

"PHOENIX FIRE, PHOENIX FIRE, PHOENIX FIRE!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress, went barreling through the doors to the Hospital Wing, disheveled and out of breath, looking around frantically for someone who could tell her what was going on. Her eyes came to rest on Molly and Ginny Weasley, but Harry was no where to be seen.

"Molly what on Earth is going on? I just got a Phoenix-fire call from Alastor, what's happened, where's Harry?"

"Oh dear, I completely forgot about the calls, well first off you should tell Alastor that he can stand down, this is a false alarm of sorts. Harry is here, Madame Pomfrey just took him, there was no Death Eater attack, calm yourself down a minute."

Minerva slowly caught her breath, looking suspiciously at Molly, and trying to ignore the look of pure delight on Ginny's face at getting to see her teacher and head of house in such a state.

"Alastor Moody." She spoke into the mirror, activating it.

"Yeah? Clear on the Burrow by the way, except no ones there, but Potter definitely was."

"Yes I know, Potter is here, everything is clear, you and the Aurors can stand down."

"What do you mean clear? You called a 'Firestorm'."

"I know, and I'll explain everything to you as soon as it is explained to me."

McGonagall turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "I'm waiting."

"Harry was out flying with Ron, and had a bit of an accident, it was more than I could patch up, and he wasn't breathing to well so I didn't want to take the time to Floo you and such, so I hit the port-key, I forgot about the code-phrases, or I would've sent one of the children to let you know."

"Well that does explain things, but what was so bad that you couldn't deal with it yourself?"

"Harry dove about four hundred feet on a Comet 260, and tried to pull out low like he does on his Firebolt." This came from Ginny, who had witnessed the event.

Professor McGonagall knew enough about Quidditch to guess what had happened next. She quickly left the Hospital Wing, both to fill in Moody, and to deny one her prize students seeing her looking like she'd just run a marathon.

Harry awoke to a very familiar-looking , albeit blurry, stone ceiling. The groan that escaped was half from the pain in his head, and half from waking up, yet again, in the Hogwarts Infirmary. A soft, tutting, told him that he was not alone, and he had a very good idea who was keeping him company. He let out another groan when he realized that he was shirtless, which meant that a lecture, for getting hurt, and a lengthy discussion about the tattoo, were in his very near future. Ever worse than that, he would be getting both from his girlfriend, who was scarier than Voldemort when she was mad.

His glasses where laid gently across his face, which didn't help much as his vision was immediately blocked by a sea of red, and he felt Ginny lightly kiss his forehead. Harry thought for one wonderful moment that maybe she wasn't mad at him, until she smacked him on the side of the head.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!!!! WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING? YOU KNOW DAMN WELL THAT A BLOODY COMET 260 CANT MATCH UP TO YOUR BROOM, SO WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU TRY A STUPID STUNT LIKE THAT? ARE YOU SO CONCIETED THAT YOU JUST HAD TO PROVE YOU'RE BETTER THAN RON? OR ARE YOU TRYING TO NEARLY KILL YOURSELF AND SCARE ME HALF TO DEATH IN THE PROCESS? I CANT EVEN BEGINT O TELL YOU HOW WORRIED I'VE BEE-"

The rest of Ginny's screamed words were cut off when Harry pulled her head down to his, kissing her soundly. He hadn't really been planning too, but it felt so good hearing her screaming about how much she cared about him, that he just had too. Plus it was also an effective way to make her forget why she was mad. Several breathless minutes later, Harry let go of Ginny, who had at some point laid down on top of him, as he wanted to get one thing out of the way while she was in a good mood.

"So what do you think of my first tattoo?" asked Harry.

Ginny thought for a moment before answering, and Harry almost thought that he was in for another telling off.

"I love it." she finally said.

"Yeah?"

"Yes, it's very sweet, but you realize now that there's no getting rid of me?"

"You know your third person who's said that to me today and I'll tell you what I told them: why on Earth would I ever want to get rid of you?"

Ginny looked at him for a moment, before lowering her head back down, continuing to make out with her boyfriend, which had been her plan for the afternoon anyway. Only she had planned it slightly differently. For one, there had not been a near-fatal broom crash involved, and they had been at Harry's house. There hadn't been a tattoo involved either, but Ginny rather liked it, it was kind of like Harry was marked as hers now.

'_It's hardly fair of him to be marked and not me…' _

**Wow, this one took me a long time, sorry guys. I've been working my butt of on mid-terms, and other school work, not to mention I've been hella busy with my Raider Team. But never fear, I'm back in the saddle, I have two new Pink Floyd albums, and I'm making up for lost time. **

**Much of this chapter I owe to Leigh, who saved my butt during some writers block. So mega-kudos to my beta.**

**Oh and the code-phrase idea came from an actually tactic used by the U.S. Secret Service, which I read about in Tom Clancy's Executive Orders. Spectacular book. **


	18. The Calm Before the Storm

"_It is the deep breath before the plunge." – Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 18:**

**Calm Before the Storm**

It was raining in the village of Hogsmeade, making for a very dark, and wet, night, which was good because it meant that almost no one would be outside. This was good for the people who had business in the village at night, and there were two such people who really didn't want to be seen. The first didn't want to be seen at all, by anyone, ever, the second didn't want to be seen by anyone who had even so much as heard of Molly Weasley, as she was still out for his blood. Fortunately neither man saw another soul until they met each other behind the Shrieking Shack. Though it had been quiet since Lupin had graduated decades ago, the Shack was still one of the most haunted, and feared, buildings in Britain.

"Why so secretive Black? You're a free man now aren't you?" asked the man who had his hood pulled forward.

"Molly Weasley is trying to kill me, I haven't even been able to visit Harry up at the school, and I don't want anyone tipping her off that I'm here." Answered Sirius.

"Always assume that you can't trust anyone, good to see you've learned that lesson, if you'd learned it when I taught it to you, James would still be alive."

"I know damn it, but that's not why we're here, have you found out anything?"

"Yeah I have, honeymoons over Sirius, he'll be up and at it again in about a week, then all hell breaks loose."

"One week, you're sure?" asked Sirius.

"Of course I'm sure, when have I ever not been sure?"

"Good point. Are you coming back this year? I know he asked you to, but I want to hear it from you."

"No, I'll stay in the shadows, 'tis where I belong anyway, but don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye on everything, same as I always do."

"I appreciate it J-" started Sirius.

"Don't say my name idiot! Better to say the Dark Lords name than mine, less likely to get you killed, you know better."

"Couldn't resist, you know me."

"Unfortunately I do, now be off, before someone comes along, go see to your godson, I'll be in touch."

Before Sirius even had a chance to respond, his friend was gone, disappeared into the shadows, as was his want. Sirius too took his leave, entering the Shrieking Shack, and taking the hidden tunnel to Hogwarts. The grounds and the first two floors of the castle were eerily quiet, until it occurred to Sirius that no one was at the castle during the summer, except for Hagrid and a few teachers, who would all be asleep at the moment, even the ghosts were absent tonight. The Hospital Wing was dark, and nearly silent when Sirius entered it, the only sounds to be heard were muffled, and decidedly feminine. They were also coming from the only occupied bed on the ward, which Sirius snuck up to silently.

"If you two keep this up I may have to do something responsible, and tell your mother."

Ginny jumped off Harry so fast she nearly hit the wall, having been scared half to death at the sudden interruption, and the other half by the mention of her mother. Harry was sitting up in bed, looking amusedly between his horrified girlfriend, and his godfather, who was literally rolling on the floor laughing.

"That was your half of the payback for us making him think you were pregnant." Harry said to Ginny while Sirius finished laughing.

"What did he do to you then?" asked an indignant Ginny.

"Made me think I had Malfoy's name instead of yours." Ginny immediately paled, even more.

"Wow, you win this one." Said Ginny.

"Well now that I've got your attention, where is your mother?" asked Sirius.

"She went home for the night, and she doesn't know I'm here, why?" asked Ginny.

"Because if she sees me, she'll kill me, in front of Harry and everything."

"Yeah, well unless she somehow knows I'm here-"

"Wouldn't put it past her." Muttered Harry.

"Unless she knows that I'm here, you should be safe Sirius." Finished Ginny.

"Good, now what's this I head about you doing a hundred foot dive on a Comet 260 to impress Ginny?" asked Sirius.

"It was two hundred feet more like, and he did it to show up Ron, not to impress me." Answered Ginny.

"Two hundred feet?! On a Comet 260?! Haven't you and I temped fate enough Harry? Or would you like to meet Voldemort for tea tomorrow and hope he's in a good mood?"

"Ha Ha Sirius, like you've never done anything that dumb before?" asked Harry.

"No I haven't done anything _that_ stupid, for your information James and I were always extremely responsible with our dangerous flying contests. Seriously Harry, don't laugh, you know that a -260 could never handle that, most people wouldn't even try it on a Nimbus, what were you thinking?"

"He wasn't thinking, Sirius, that's the point." Said Ginny.

"Stop acting like your mad at him Ginny, it looked like you were trying to lick the back of his throat a minute ago."

Ginny blushed a very deep shade of Weasley red.

"Well that doesn't mean I can't still yell at him when he does something stupid!"

"Ginny you've done nothing but kiss me and yell at me since I woke up!"

"That's because I can't decide if I'm mad at you for being an idiot or relieved that your O.K."

"Kids, kids, take it easy, your not married so stop arguing like you are, I had to listen to James and Lily do it, and once is plenty for me thank you very much."

"Why does everything we do remind you of my parents?" asked Harry.

"Because you two are almost exactly like them." Answered Sirius.

"Now come on Ginny, I'm going to redeem myself in your mother's eyes by bringing you home, and letting Harry get some sleep, which the three of us know very well he wont be getting if you stay."

Sirius and Ginny went to the Burrow, Ginny to her room, which was very green on the inside, and Sirius to the couch, where he hoped to wake before Molly the next morning. Harry slept peacefully in the Hospital Wing, dreams of his girlfriend filling his head. In fact he had been dreaming mostly about Ginny all summer. He had not had one dream concerning Voldemort, not one bad feeling or pain in his scar, it was very strange, but Harry was glad of it, with any luck he wouldn't have to worry about Voldemort until Christmas.

Harry awoke the next morning and was told to floo to the Burrow by Madame Pomfrey, after she checked him over yet again. She had checked him over so many times in the last four years, she ought to hire someone just to find out what was wrong with him when he showed up in the Hospital Wing, it would be well worth it.

The Burrow was very quiet when Harry arrived, he found Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley waiting for him in the kitchen, all were seated, though no one was talking.

"Have a seat Harry." Remus told him, handing him a mug of tea.

"What's going on?" asked Harry, fearing that something very bad had happened while he was in the Hospital Wing.

"Well I've found out some important, but very bad, information." Answered Sirius.

"And that would be?" asked Harry.

"That Voldemort will be back to his old self in less than a week." Answered Remus.

"A week? I though we had until Christmas?!"

"Well it seems that that estimate was wrong, Sirius was able to confirm from a very reliable source that we have just one week of peace left. Then one more week until school begins."

"What source Sirius?" Harry asked his godfather.

"Yeah, I'd like to know myself, since we're trusting it so implicitly." Added Remus.

"I cant tell you anything about him, except that both James and I trusted him more than we trusted anyone else, including Lily, and that I still do trust him."

"You don't mean Peter?" asked Remus.

"No! of course I don't mean that spineless traitor, this is someone else, someone who I'm sure isn't about to betray us."

"How sure?" asked Kingsley.

"I'm more sure that I can trust this man than I am that I can trust you!" shouted Sirius.

"Sirius calm down, its just that we're all a bit, iffy, about trusting new people, especially someone we haven't met yet." Said Tonks.

"Well for what its worth Sirius, I have faith in you, if you trust him, then so do I."

"Thank you Harry, see, at least someone trusts my judgement."

"This argument is getting us nowhere, now everyone calm down, and explain things to Mr. Potter." Said Professor McGonagall.

"Right Harry, since your target number one, the Order is going to have some people around, just during your outdoor classes, Quidditch Practice, and Hogsmeade visits. Just to keep an eye on things, and to help you if something does happen." Tonks explained.

"I can live with that, though it is going to be really annoying."

"Don't worry Harry, I'm sure you and Ginny will be able to find lots of good spots _inside_ the castle."

"Gee thanks Sirius, right in front of her mother, I ask you." Muttered Harry.

"Don't worry Harry, I'm Ginny shopping later this week, and I guarantee that your gonna like it." Tonks whispered to him, causing him to blush, and leaving no one wondering why.

The rest of the impromptu meeting consisted of Kingsley explaining the schedule of who would be there and when, and a promise that Professor Dumbledore, when he returned, would have more information about the school's security measures, which Harry had of course asked about. Harry spent the rest of the day with Ginny, Ron, Fred and George, occasionally flying, but mostly just goofing off in the field behind the Burrow. Harry had a strong feeling that they were running out of days like this. The fight was coming, and no matter how hard Dumbledore and the Order tried, Harry and his friends would be right in the thick of things, as usual.

There was a storm coming, and, as usual, it was coming right at him. This was just the calm before that storm, and it couldn't last forever. This was just fine with Harry, the sooner things started, the sooner they would end, and the shorter the war, the better.

_**A/N: I know, I know, I'm sorry. But I"ve been having problems lately, you don't want to hear about that. Updates are slowing down, and I'm sorry, but I am kinda doing three stories at once, so back off. Anyway I hope you enjoyed, things are about to really kick off, the honeymoons over, let the action and violence begin!!!!!!!!**_

_**Thank you for you patience The WoLf At BaY**_


	19. The First Waves Crash

"_Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." – George Orwell. Semper Fi_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles proudly present chapter 19:**

**The First Waves Crash**

The two weeks before term started at Hogwarts had been the most tense in living memory. News had leaked out that Voldemort would soon be back in action, and panic ensued. The panic lasted until Voldemort actually did announce his return to health, with a random attack on Diagon Ally, a dozen Death Eaters had apparated in and fired off Killing Curses, then Dissaperated in under two minutes. Twenty-three people were killed, including children doing school shopping, and not a single one of the Death Eaters was even so much as identified. Two days later Voldemort himself had attacked the Hogwarts Express, though the Ministry and the Order had been ready for that one.

Fifteen Aurors and the entire Order of the Phoenix had been stationed on Platform 9 ¾, but it had mattered little. No students were killed, fortunately, but more than one watched as they became orphans on September 1st, six Aurors were killed defending the parents and students, as well as Emmaline Vance, and three other Order members whom Harry had known by sight, but not by name.

Harry had found himself, yet again, dueling the Dark Lord on his own. Everyone else had been busy protecting the students, and no one had wanted to be on the business end of Voldemort's wand. So Harry had challenged Voldemort, and actually held his own, for a minute. That was how long Harry had been able to duck and dodge until a Cruciatus Curse hit him, and he went down, writhing in agony, but refusing to scream. When he had finally been released from the curse, and looked up, it had been in relief to see Dumbledore fighting Voldemort, and the Order and Aurors starting to turn the tables on the Death Eaters. It seemed that once Dumbledore showed up, the Death Eaters lost their edge.

Harry had been taken to Hogwarts via Port key, but Madam Pomfrey, non-too happy to be seeing him already, had told him he could attend the feast, but he had to return to the Hospital Wing for the night. He had been looking forward to a night with Ginny, and the various secluded places that he knew of in the castle, but he daren't risk the wrath of Madam Pomfrey if he disobeyed.

After the Sorting, during which seven students joined Gryffindor, Professor Dumbledore stood to give his customary welcoming speech.

"To all of our new students, welcome to Hogwarts, and to our old hands, welcome back! Welcome to another year of learning and adventure!" Harry was sure that Dumbledore's eyes flickered towards him at that point.

"I have rather more announcements to make this year than usual, so I beg your patience before the feast begins. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch has extended the list of items banned at Hogwarts to include anything associated with the Weasley Twins, and asks me to remind you that no magic is to be used in the hallways between classes. Our inter-house Quidditch competition shall proceed as usual, if you wish to try out, submit your name to your head of house. The Forbidden Forest is, naturally, forbidden to all students, except for Care of Magical Creatures classes. And now, to more serious matters, Lord Voldemort has always been fascinated by Hogwarts, as are many of us. Therefore I think it very likely that he will at the very least try to infiltrate the school, so I must ask you to be very careful this year, and report anything strange to a teacher, you never know what may be important. Quidditch Matches and Hogsmeade Visits will be supervised by myself and by Aurors, but please, if you have any suspicions, tell someone. And last, but not least, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, I believe this is the tenth time in a row I'm saying this, Professor Black."

Silence met the end of Dumbledore's speech, until what he had said sunk in, and Harry stood.

"Oi! You could have said something!" The whole school was now looking between Sirius and Harry, wondering why Harry Potter was yelling at a teacher.

"Where's the fun in that? Thank you Professor Dumbledore." Sirius gave a smile and a wave to the students as he sat back down, as did Harry, the latter looking embarrassed.

"Well he could have said something, I bet he knew all summer." Said Harry to his friends, who were looking at him strangely.

Before the end of the feast the word had spread around that Sirius was Harry's godfather, and that Harry had been living with him all summer. Harry was therefore on the receiving end of a lot of jokes, most insinuating that he would be getting off easy in Defense classes. Most of the joking was in good humor, but a few people, mostly Slytherins, including their head of house, were downright cruel as the student body left the Great Hall in favor of their dormitories.

Harry, on the other hand, had to head to the Hospital Wing, though Ginny had insisted on walking him there, more for her own pleasure than to make sure that he made it alright.

"This is what you get for picking a fight with a Dark Lord Harry." She admonished him teasingly as they made their way.

"Yes well, I didn't see any of the fully qualified, Ministry-trained witches and wizards doing it, so someone had to." Answered Harry, always happy to give the Ministry a good ribbing.

"Isn't it enough that you get to date me? How much more important do you need to feel Harry?" asked Ginny.

"Well, I have been giving serious thought to dumping you and becoming a vigilante killer, though I think i might miss snogging you."

"Damn right you will." Answered Ginny, before reminding him just how much he enjoyed snogging her.

Madame Pomfrey was not impressed.

She entered her Hospital Wing ward to find her only patient, and his girlfriend, on one of her beds, together, oblivious to the rest of the world. After clearing her throat three times to get their attention, she sent Ginny back her own dormitory, with threats of being barred from visiting Harry in the future.

"You seem pretty sure that I'll wind up back in you know." Said Harry.

"It's a given." Answered Madame Pomfrey.

"Does that mean that I can get my own bed?" asked Harry.

"I'm giving it some serious thought." Answered Madame Pomfrey sincerely.

Sirius, or Professor Black now, was outside on the Hogwarts grounds, very near to the edge of the Forbidden Forest where Harry had been the last person to see Barty Crouch Sr. alive. He was meeting his friend here again, desperate for new information, which the Order had very little of. In fact, the only thing the Order knew for sure was that it had been badly mauled in the fight at King's Cross.

"You suck at sneaking up on people Black," said the man, nearly making Sirius jump out of his skin. "I've been sitting here for three minutes, trying to decide if I should hex you or not, get better at it!"

"Nice to see you too." Grumbled Sirius.

"You all got beat pretty bad today huh?" asked the man.

"Yes, we did, very badly, what can you tell me about it?" answered Sirius.

"You asking for information or a SitRep?" asked his friend.

"Both." Answered Sirius, he was very interested in knowing what the Order had done wrong.

"You didn't do anything wrong," said the man, as if reading Sirius' mind. "Voldemort was there in person, Potter held him off, then Dumbledore put foot to ass, in his own way."

"Harry fought Voldemort?!" shouted Sirius.

"Keep your voice down or your mouth shut, yeah, your godson dueled the Dark Lord, again. He lasted about a minute and a half, but he did the trick, saved about six or seven lives I think."

"And what about some intel?" asked Sirius.

"Nothing much new, Voldemort's been quite, he's mad 'cause Harry got away, again, and because he had to fight Dumbledore, so you've got some time to lick your wounds."

"That's all?" asked Sirius.

"It's considerably more than you knew ten minutes ago." Pointed out the man.

"True, thank you. Now I have a favor to ask, you remember that debt you owed to James?" asked Sirius.

"Yes…" growled his friend "but I don't like to be reminded about it.

"Pay it, keep Harry safe, you know that would be more important to James than anything. Keep an eye on him, help us keep him safe?"

"You know that I hate getting involved on this side of the pond, but I like the kid, and I owe James, I'm not saying I'll do everything for you, but I'll keep the kid alive as long as I can, which might not be much mind you."

"I know, and I appreciate it, if you need anything…"

"If I need anything I'm more likely to get it for myself than by asking you." Said the man.

"Until next time then." And Sirius transformed, running off into the night.

His companion remained for sometime, alone on the edge of the forest, centering himself, and thinking. He did his best thinking alone, people were a distraction in life, and distractions got people killed, he had learned that the hard way, so had Kathryn when Grindelwald had killed her. He had let himself become distracted, and it had cost him nearly everything, but revenge was sweet, even though it did nothing to lessen the deadness in his heart, or in his eyes. The stranger moved off, towards the castle, and Harry Potter, intent on paying his debt to James, if anyone had earned his respect, and his debt, it was James.

The first days of the fifth year were normal for Harry Potter, well, as normal as things ever were at Hogwarts, and ever could be around Harry. Snape was vindictive and took points for no reason in Potions, Flitwick was short and excitable in Charms, McGonagall was stern but understanding in Transfiguration, and DADA was just weird with Sirius teaching. The really frightening part was that he was a very good teacher, and knew a lot about the subject. They had a very interesting first lesson.

"Good Afternoon class, I'm Professor Black, and you'll be happy to know that I bullied my friend ex-Professor Lupin into helping me plan the classes, as I've heard you were all rather fond of him."

"Best teacher we've had so far." Said Ernie MacMillan from the back of the room.

"Excellent, then I should top him, because I really only changed his lesson plans so that you'll have less homework."

There was a loud cheer from the class, all but Harry, who knew better than to expect a free pass from his godfather.

"Well I'm glad your so enthusiastic, now if my dear godson would kindly, join me in front of the class, I'll just demonstrate the curses that we'll be going over before Christmas, all of them."

Harry groaned at the smile on Sirius' face, and not without good reason, Sirius cursed him with about twenty different spells, some of which Harry knew, most of which he didn't, before the lesson was over. But Sirius had one more surprise for the day.

"Since I'll be assigning almost no homework, we will be working much harder in class than your other subjects, and we will be meeting twice as often as usual, these extra lessons will consist of dueling practice, among some other things, so be ready, enjoy the rest of your day."

Harry could have sworn he heard Sirius mutter "while you still can" under his breath, which he knew to be a bad sign. Making Sirius a teacher had to be among the worst decisions Dumbledore had ever made. Although, Sirius really did know a lot about Defense, if he could just act less like a student and more like a teacher it wouldn't be a problem. At least this year Harry was sure that his DADA professor wasn't a Death Eater, or a fraud.

It was the third day after the term had started, and Madam Pomfrey had decided that Harry had spent enough time in the Hospital Wing to get over the Cruciatus Curse, so Harry was finally able to relax in the common room with his girlfriend, like he planned. At the moment they had the common room to themselves, most students were in bed already as it was nearing midnight, and they were taking advantage of the privacy to catch up on their snogging time.

Harry had been spending most of the summer exploring with Ginny, or more accurately, exploring Ginny herself, and he had learned a few interesting things about his girlfriend, like how ticklish her ribs were, or how she loved it when he kissed a certain spot on her neck. One of the things Harry had particularly enjoyed discovering was just how soft Ginny's skin was, and how much he loved to touch it. He was just starting to slide his hands under the back of her shirt, when she stopped him. This was the first time Ginny had ever really stopped him from doing something, but he put it off to her not wanting someone to walk in on them like that. But when he ran his hands over her back anyway, on top of her shirt this time, she flinched, hard, when his hand went over a spot on her lower back.

"Ginny?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Is there any particular reason you just jumped about a foot when I touched your back?" asked Harry.

"Yes, but I'm not going to tell you." Answered Ginny, kissing him again.

"Nice try Ginny, but I want to know what's hurting you." Said Harry.

"Fine, take a look, but promise me you won't be angry?"

"Um, O.K. I promise I won't get angry." Said a confused Harry.

Ginny turned and lifted the back of her shirt enough for Harry to see her lower back. Comprehension dawned on Harry when he saw the familiar angry red skin surrounding ink on his girlfriend's back.

"When did you get this done?" asked Harry "And how? You have to be an adult to get one, or have your parents permission, and I know your mum would never, never let you."

"I got it on the second to last day before we came back, and Hermione took me, she's very good with Confounding Charms you know."

"You actually talked Hermione into Confounding someone so that you could get a tattoo?" asked Harry.

"Well I have some good blackmail on her." Said Ginny.

"And that would be?" asked Harry.

"My little secret." Answered Ginny. "Do you like it?"

"I love it, but you need to get 'Property of' right above 'HJP'." Said Harry.

"Oh so you own me now Potter?"

"Are you complaining Weasley?" asked Harry.

"No." answered Ginny before leaning in to kiss him again.

Harry was careful to avoid touching Ginny's lower back for the next few days, he knew from experience just how much it hurt. Hermione kept giving him odd looks whenever she saw him catch himself and move his hand, and Harry was beginning to wonder why.

"Everything alright Hermione?" Harry asked her one day when they were in the library together.

"Of course, why?" asked Hermione.

"Well you've been giving me funny looks lately and I'm wondering why."

"Oh, have I? Sorry, it's just, you know that I helped Ginny get that tattoo right?"

"Yeah…" answered Harry.

"Well it took her a bit of convincing to get me to help her, and she told me her reasons, and I just can't get over how much you two love each other, I mean you've got each others initials permanently branded into you, it's so romantic."

"Hermione, I got so drunk that I don't even remember getting this, or wanting to, and Ginny did it to try and one up me, or prove that she's tougher than her brothers or something. It's not very romantic, and it is very painful."

"Still though, when you think about it, you and Ginny have something very special, something that not many people ever get to have, I think Dumbledore knows how much you care about each other, because he keeps giving you two odd looks as well, and he's specifically told teachers and prefects that if you two are out after curfew together your not to be punished, just sent back to the common room."

"What really?" asked Harry.

"Yeah really, though I wasn't supposed to say anything about it."

"That's going to come in handy." Grinned Harry.

Hermione just groaned, painfully aware of what Harry meant. It was hard enough to keep him and Ginny from sneaking out as it was, now it was going to be impossible.

Her attention was diverted away from Harry's nighttime wanderings when Professor Dumbledore stood up, and called for silence.

"All prefects please lead your house-mates calmly and in an orderly manner back to your house common rooms, then make sure that everyone is present and accounted for, report to the Head Boy and Girl, and then they shall report to me. It is of the utmost importance that everyone stay calm, and do exactly as they are told, Lord Voldemort has come to Hogwarts."

Dead silence met these words, then, almost as one, people stood, and began moving towards the doors. It seemed as if people had taken Dumbledore's instructions to heart, they were moving quietly and calmly, not in a panicked mob. That lasted until a spell caused the enchanted ceiling to buckle, and start to fall. Everyone tried to surge through the doors at once, with the result that everything got slowed down.

By the time Harry and Hermione made it to the Entrance Hall, it wasn't a hall anymore, just a smoking hole in the castle, and there, in the center of the destruction, was Lord Voldemort, and he was looking right at Harry. Hermione, who was a few steps to Harry's left, saw a pale, bony hand bring up a twisted, evil looking wand, saw the colorless lips, form words, and watched a jet of green light streak towards her best friend. She never saw the light hit though, she was knocked out of the way almost immediately by someone running past her, towards Harry…

_**I'm evil with the cliffy huh? Things are gonna kick off next chapter, promise. Harry and Ginny are getting more serious in their relationship, and may start earning this stories rating soon, maybe Ron and Hermione will help a bit. I decided no Umbridge, I hate that bitch, so your welcome. **_

_**The WoLf At BaY**_


	20. Enough Dead Heroes

"_Fight 'till you fall." – The Author_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles proudly present chapter 20:**

**Enough Dead Heroes**

He had done exactly what he had told Sirius he would do. He had stayed in the shadows, his very favorite place, and watched Potter. He had respected the boys privacy of course, but he had always been on hand in case something requiring his attention happened to happen.

This morning it did.

His blood chilled when he saw Voldemort in the castle.

His heart stopped when he saw Potter. He knew what was coming.

Years of combat training kicked in, and he sprinted towards the boy as fast as he could, knocking a dazed girl aside as he pushed his dead friends son out of the way of a killing curse.

He rose to his feet, mind made up, not a shred of doubt present.

He stood between Potter and the Dark Lord, looking death in the face.

A quote from one of his favorite muggle movies came to him.

'_Its time to die.'_

Well if it was his time, he was going to take as many people as he could with him. He knew he couldn't kill the Dark Lord, but perhaps he could get a few of the Death Eaters, and he could certainly buy everyone else time.

Freedom has the very highest of costs, and he was willing to pay a part of that cost, with his life.

"Stun Potter and get him out of here!" he hissed at the girl who had been walking with Potter a moment before.

He did not wait to see if she did as directed, that would have cost him his life. A sickly green curse came flying at him, and he just managed to roll out of the way, coming out of the roll but letting the momentum help him retake his feet.

Spells flew from his wand, mostly Stunner's and powerful Cutting and Blasting curses, but they only served to distract the Dark Lord.

He decided to step the game up right away, and threw a couple of Unforgivable's at Voldemort. He looked shocked, even as he side stepped each and every one, before throwing back some spells of his own.

He blocked most of the incoming spells, dodging those he didn't think he could block. He managed a lucky shot, firing a Cutting Curse at Voldemort, while jumping aside, that actually made contact, opening a long cut on the Dark Lords arm. Thick, black blood seeped from the wound, and the sneer on Voldemort's face turned to a snarl of rage.

That was when things began to get really bad. The remaining students in the Great Hall decided that now was a good time to run out, and he had to protect them from the incoming spells as well, which worked for about a minute, before he was forced to take a Blasting Curse in the shoulder, and then a Cruciatus Curse. By the time he was released from the spell, his wand was gone, and Voldemort's face was inches from his own.

"You fight well stranger, you would make a powerful Death Eater, would you rule as my right hand?" asked the Dark Lord.

"Fuck you!" answered a man who knew he was about to die.

"Very well, you have earned a slow death, I think. Expulso!" shouted the Dark Lord, before activating his Port key and leaving.

The man groaned when he heard the entrail-expelling curse, and fought down a scream when he felt his skin part and his entrails flop out onto his lap. He was going to die in about six minutes, depending on how long he could fight his own mortality.

Harry Potter awoke in smoke and ruin, the last thing he remembered was someone heavy crashing into him, and then Hermione shot a Stunner at someone, and then darkness. He turned his head and saw Hermione crouching next to him, apparently having just re-awoken him.

"Who got me?" he asked.

"I did." Answered Hermione.

"What?! Why?!" Harry shouted.

"Because he told me too, and he was right, it was the only way to stop you from trying to take on Voldemort yourself."

Harry looked where she was pointing and saw a strange man, whom he had never seen before, laying in a puddle of blood, holding what appeared to be his guts in his hands. Strangely enough the man was laughing.

"Whats so funny?" asked Harry, after crawling over to the man.

"My drill sergeant always said he would have my guts for garters, I guess he was right." Answered the man.

"Harry I need you to listen carefully, I don't have a lot of time left, and there are things you need to know." The strange man launched into a narrative.

_My story starts fifty-five years ago, when Grindelwald was mighty, and Dumbledore and the early version of the Order of the Phoenix fought him. _ _I was one of the few original members, Dumbledore taught me himself, I learned a lot from him in those days. I'm telling you this because Voldemort had a lot of help in his younger years, and that help came from Grindelwald. The more you learn about him, the more you will learn about the Dark Lord. _

_Dumbledore managed to defeat Grindelwald, with my help, but I paid a heavy price for it, too heavy. I left the wizarding world for a time, but I got drawn back in by a Dark Arts uprising in America, it was shortly after that that I met your father. He came to train under me with an exchange program between the Aurors and the AMCF, the American Magical Combat Force, him and Sirius Black. I trained them, I taught them, I knew about Voldemort even then, and I knew who would be fighting him, I thought I could spare them making my mistakes. _

_I was wrong, I remember when I first heard about Lily and James, it tore me up inside, especially since your dad had saved my life, he had an affinity for saving people, I expect that's where you get it. I never got a chance to repay him, until today. I told you that I paid a heavy price against Grindelwald, I watched him murder the woman I love. It was my fault, I let my guard down, I was distracted, and I had to watch her die. I was reckless for many years after that, when I was training your dad, we went after some wanna-be dark lord together, I was all set to go bursting in face-first screaming spells, and he stopped me, reminded me of the things I taught him. There were forty dark wizards waiting for us, we had to call in back up, I would have been slaughtered if not for your dad. _

_I'm ready to die Harry, I have been for a long time. I've seen so much death and violence in my life, I've given up on everything else, I've given up on hope, and on love. That's no life worth living. I bought you another shot at him Harry, make sure you use it wisely. If Dumbledore doesn't start training you after today, you tell him it was my dying wish that he do so, and tell Sirius I said goodbye, he's an idiot, but a damn good troop. Take care of yourself Harry, and don't ever let your guard down, it could cost you more than you can bare to lose._

Harry had no idea who this man was, but he suspected that it was Sirius' secret information source, and no one had a reason to lie while they were literally dying, so Harry believed that he had spoken the truth. It was a disturbing insight into the past, but the part about Grindelwald helping Voldemort intrigued him, he was going to have to go to Dumbledore and get more information on the subject. After a lengthy stay in the Hospital Wing of course.

Hermione was trying to look anywhere but at Harry and the man he was talking to, she was also trying, and failing, to keep herself from vomiting. The lunch that she had just eaten came up violently as she saw the man's chest stop moving, and his eyes close, a small smile still on his face. She had been watching him fight Voldemort, it had been amazing. She was so sure that he was going to win, that he must be Dumbledore in disguise or something, and he had bought the other students enough time to get away, and her enough time to get Harry away. But he had died in a horrible way for it, for them. It sickened her, the whole thing did, all of the hate and the violence, it just wasn't right.

Harry turned when he felt a small hand on his shoulder, he had still been holding the man who had saved him, though he only now realized it. it was Ginny, looking horrified at what she saw, and he immediately took her in his arms, pressing her face into his chest, trying to spare her having to see the carnage wrought by Voldemort. He slowly led her away from the wrecked hall, as Ron was doing with a still sick Hermione. He didn't know where they would go, but anywhere was better than here.

They literally ran into Professor Dumbledore after only a few minutes, the old wizard looked strained and worried, though his expression softened when his eyes found Harry. Dumbledore led them silently past the stone gargoyle and into his office, where he quickly healed the minor cuts that Harry and Hermione had received from spells hitting the stones.

"Professor," asked Harry "what happened today? Who was that man who saved me? He said that you once taught him, and that he was friends with my dad."

"You are very lucky Harry, both to have survived today, and to have met who you did. He was indeed my apprentice, almost sixty years ago, and he was one of the very best wizards of the age, until the death of his fiancé, after that, he shunned magic until the Dark Arts came for him again. He had a very distinguished record with the American Marine Corps, muggle soldiers, and then with the American Magical Combat Force, their version of Aurors. He was very effective at what he did, though he was always violent about it, never hesitated to kill, even he could capture. He was born to end lives, and he was very good at it. I never could have beaten Grindelwald without him."

"So everything he said was true?" asked Harry.

"That man never has, and never would, tell a lie, even to save his own life or someone else's. He valued his word above almost all else. He owed your father a debt, and today he paid it."

"Sir, why did You-Know-Who attack today? I mean it just seems kind of random, and pointless." Said Ron.

"I believe, Mr. Weasley, that Voldemort was after Harry. He is very mad about what happened over the summer, you ruined many well-laid plans Harry, he is quite upset about it."

"So does that mean that everyone who died today died… because of me?" asked Harry.

"Of course not, why would you ever think that? They died today because of Lord Voldemort, no one else. You can not blame yourself for his actions Harry, that's letting him win, handing him something he can use against you. There is no victory in walking that path."

"It's hard though, I mean it makes sense to me that its my fault, even if its not." Said Harry.

"I know Harry, but it will become easier once you accept that it is not your fault, and turn that guilt into something you can use. I wish for you to begin taking private lessons with me, and Miss Weasley, given your situation, I will talk with Professor McGonagall about tutoring you, it cant hurt to be extra careful. Now, you really must get to the Hospital Wing, or Poppy will never let me hear the end of it, go on, it wont be that bad, she's very busy."

Harry and his friends left the Headmaster's office, not really feeling any better than they had before, only Harry really felt any different, and he was angry and sad, as apposed to guilty. The somber foursome allowed themselves to be tended to by Madame Pomfrey, all lost in their separate thoughts, until a special addition of the Daily Prophet was delivered later that evening. Ron read the paper aloud to the entire Hospital Wing.

_You-Know-Who Attacks Hogwarts: Thwarted by International Hero!_

_The wizarding world was shaken today by a vicious attack on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the Dark Lord and his followers. You-Know-Who inflicted a great deal of damage on the castle, and he and his Death Eaters killed twelve students, and one other. Our condolences go out to the families of the twelve students. _

_The other casualty was an international peace keeper, best know for his time as Dumbledore's apprentice. He served in the Auror Division for six years, earning the highest decoration offered by our government, the Order of Merlin, First Class, for his actions against Grindelwald. After that conflict he left our world for muggle America, where he became a muggle soldier. He was highly decorated by the muggle government, before re-joining the magical world in the American Magical Combat Force. He quickly became their premier trainer, and was awarded the Salem Medal no less than five times for bravery in the line of duty. _

_When he returned briefly to Britain, he was once again awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, for his defense of the McKinnon's before their deaths. It was deemed that he held off Death Eaters for fifteen minutes while the McKinnon's tried to escape. Our hero wishes to remain un-named, as he does not want to draw attention to his remaining family. They have our deepest condolences. _

_The Ministry of Magic has decided to award another Order of Merlin, First Class, for the brave defense of Hogwarts students, making a new record for the most Orders of Merlin. Albus Dumbledore currently holds two First Class awards, and one Second Class. Our hero will he sorely missed, and we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his noble sacrifice. _

The article brought a tear to Harry's eyes, and a weight to his heart. Here was yet another great man, torn down by Voldemort. He was the kind of person whose example Harry wanted to follow, except for the dying part of course.

_**A/N—This is another one on the short side, but I just wanted to tell this little story. Don't think that just because he's dead he's not important anymore. His advice will be very important, as will his history, his story, and his sacrifice. For the record, I based this character on a real person, and there are little hints as to who it is. I fully expect my beta to know who it is, but if any of you can guess via review, I'll write you into the story as an extra, promise!**_

_**The WoLf At BaY**_


	21. Remembrance

"_Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die." – The Sandlot_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 21:**

**Remembrance, Tribute to a Fallen Hero**

A week after Hogwarts was attacked the mood around the castle was still somber. Teachers and students alike were quite, and reserved, most were contemplating what could drive a man to give his life for someone else's. Harry especially was thinking about it, as it was his life that had been saved. He desperately wanted to be able to know more about his rescuer, find out the details that he left out of his tail, who he really was, and what he had meant. There was only person he knew he could ask and get a straight answer out of, which was why he staying late after DADA today.

Albus Dumbledore was pacing his office, extremely glad that he had taken a vacation. He had just finished repairing his castle, with help from Minerva and Fillius, but it had still exhausted him, especially after having dueled Voldemort only a few days ago. It was becoming far too much for an old man to handle. He was extremely lucky that Jake had been in the castle, though Albus had no idea why he had been, because all of the teachers had been far too busy keeping the ceiling from crushing the students to stop Voldemort. If not for Jake, Hogwarts might have fallen that day, and everyone in it would have been killed. Albus collapsed into his chair, mentally preparing his speech for the memorial service, once again very glad that he had taken a vacation, as it seemed the war had come to welcome him home.

Harry sat in Sirius office, thinking to himself that he'd spent more time in this office than anyone else's over the years, except his first year. This year, it was decorated with pictures, as it had been in Lockhart's time, though they were pictures of Harry's parents, Remus, Sirius, a couple of Frank and Alice Longbottom, and even some of Harry. It made for a very relaxing atmosphere, for Harry anyway, he imagined that a Slytherin doing detention would be a little disturbed at having to look at pictures of Harry Potter.

"So you want to know about Jake huh?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, is that his name?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, but you, me, and Albus are just about the only ones who know that, he liked his privacy, after his fiancé died, and I had to practically blackmail him to get him here, he owed your Dad big time, and I asked him to pay it off by keeping an eye on you, glad I did."

"Well I want to know more about him, I mean I know he helped take down Grindelwald, and that he was taught by Dumbledore, worked in the States, but I want to know more." said Harry.

"Well he had a long time girlfriend, Kathryn, who didn't make it. They were a lot like you and Ginny, young, headstrong, and sickeningly in love. Jake was one of the best, he was trained personally by Dumbledore, and put his training to good use. Grindelwald didn't really have too many followers, not like the Death Eaters anyway. There were only around a dozen of them, but they were much worse than the Death Eaters. The Order was hard pressed to even stand up to them, let alone stop them, the rule was, if you ran into them, hide, and call Jake, he was the only one who was a match for them. Then things calmed down, Dumbledore and Grindelwald had a big duel, and then he, Grindelwald, and his friends disappeared. Everyone thought it was over, except for Jake and Dumbledore, Albus knew because he knew that he was the only one who could stop Grindelwald, and Jake knew because he trusted Dumbledore. Then Jake let his guard down, he started to believe that it might be over, he relaxed, and proposed to Kathryn, she accepted, Dumbledore was to be the best man, and they were all set to marry in August. "

"Their wedding was a slaughter, Grindelwald showed up with all of his friends, and started killing. The Order members who were there did what they could, but it wasn't much, they were mostly all killed. Dumbledore and Jake were up at the alter, with Kathryn, fighting like mad men. Then one of Grindelwald's men grabbed Dumbledore from behind and Port-Keyed out. Jake was disarmed, and forced to watch his bride raped and murdered by Grindelwald. I can't even imagine how much it must have hurt, because he exploded, literally a magical explosion, which killed four very powerful wizards, and damn near killed Grindelwald. That was how Albus was able to defeat him, Grindelwald was already hurt and weakened by the explosion, so when Albus got there, he managed to win. "

"About ten years later, Jake started to move on, he never even so much as looked at another woman, but he lived, at least a little. He moved to America, did his thing, and became the best of the best, he trained most the American Aurors, and me and your dad, and Moody, then he came here last year, when I asked him to. "

Sirius paused and sighed, before continuing on.

"Then he died defending you, and that's about all I know about him, which means that you and I know more about him than anyone else alive, except Dumbledore. I don't need to tell you to keep all of this to yourself, he didn't want people to know, and neither do I."

"I know," said Harry "I won't tell anyone."

Harry had tears in his eyes, and Sirius knew that he was thinking about the possibility of history repeating itself. He felt bad about telling Harry all of this, but this way would make it a little easier when he found out the Prophecy. Sirius only hoped he wouldn't brood over this too much.

"Harry, don't worry over this much, Grindelwald was a lot worse than Voldemort, imagine if every Death Eater that you know of was as strong as Voldemort is, and now imagine that the Order doesn't exist, and Hogwarts isn't a safe place to stay. It's not as bad as it was, but I won't lie to you, you are walking almost the same path that Jake did, but I promise you Harry, it won't end the way his did."

Harry just nodded solemnly, got up, and left the office. Sirius didn't try to stop his godson, he knew that Harry was going straight to Ginny, and was glad, because that was exactly the right thing for him to do. He only hoped that he was wrong about how close the two path's were, and that Harry didn't make the connection, regarding Ginny and Kathryn, that he had, all it would take would be a physical description of Kathryn, and the cat would be out of the bag with a vengeance.

Under different circumstances, Harry might have spent hours wandering the castle, thinking about what he had just learned, but instead, he went right to Ginny. She was in the Common Room, and almost seemed to be waiting for him. One look into Harry's eyes told her that something was wrong, and she got up and followed him back out outside, to their favorite spot out by the lake.

"Harry what's wrong?" asked Ginny.

Harry waited a few minutes before answering, considering his words. He had the same suspicions that Sirius did, although for different reasons, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell Ginny. In the end, he decided to tell her the truth.

"I talked with Sirius, and he told me a lot of things I didn't know, mostly about that guy who saved me, his name was Jake, by the way."

He told Ginny, everything that Sirius had just told him. He didn't leave out anything, he told her every detail he knew, including how Kathryn had died.

"And that's why your upset?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, but more because of what happened to him, and the fact that I think, and Sirius agrees that almost the same thing is going to happen to me."

"What do you mean 'the same thing'?"

"Well he fell in love young, like I did, and he proposed to his fiancé, Grindelwald killed her on their wedding day." Harry choked, and couldn't go on, even thinking about what he was going to have to say next was difficult for him.

"And what does that have to do with you?" asked Ginny.

"It's… it's my worst fear. That that could happen to us, that I could lose you, that you would be hurt, I can't stand the thought of it."

"But Harry it isn't the same, we're still in school we're not out fighting Voldemort, the Order is, and one of these days Dumbledore is going to beat him, and you'll never have to worry about it."

"I don't think so. If Dumbledore could beat Voldemort he would have by now, I've watched them fight, and Dumbledore was only holding his own. Have you noticed how he sometimes misses meals? It's always after he fights Voldemort. I don't think that is their fight for long, there's a reason Voldemort keeps coming after me, and I think it's going to fall to me to fight him."

"And you're afraid he's going to kill me?" asked Ginny.

"I'm scared to death that he will." answered Harry.

His answer brought tears to her eyes, and she hugged him tightly wrapping her arms around him like she would never let go. He hugged her back, burying his face in her hair and crying like she had never seen him before. By the time he was done, it was nearly dark out.

"Harry, I can't promise that nothing bad will ever happen to us, but I will promise that I will always love you, and that I'll never leave you, and I will always be here for you, if you can promise me the same thing."

"Of course Ginny, its funny, up until last year I barely knew you, it seems like it only took me one night to fall in love with you."

"And I'm glad you finally got around to it, I was about to get desperate."

"I'm sorry I took so long Ginny, I wish we could have had three more years together, and I'm sorry that we have to be mixed up in this damn war."

"It's not your fault Harry, and don't worry too much about the war, we'll pull through, besides, we wouldn't be the people we are, and the people we are meant to become, without it."

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" asked Harry.

"Yes, about five minutes ago actually, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again."

"I love you Ginny."

He kissed her, just as the last rays of sunshine faded. Ginny kissed him back, rather more passionately than she meant to, but she couldn't help herself.

"C'mon Ginny, we should go back inside." said Harry, several breathless minutes later.

They re-entered the castle together, clothes rumpled and hair tangled, and went straight to the Common Room. It was empty, because everyone was at dinner, and Ginny couldn't help herself, she jumped back on her boyfriend, kissing him vigorously. Harry kissed her back just as hard, and their tongues met in the middle. Harry's hands were on her back, her shirt pushed up to her ribs, and her hands were all the way under his, dragging her nails over his chest. Harry's lips moved moved down along her cheek and onto her neck, he was sucking the soft spot just under her ear, which he knew drove her wild.

Ginny's hips bucked against him as he nibbled gently, causing her to jump and shudder. She decided to pay him back for that, and pressed her hips and rear downward, wiggling in his lap. He shuddered in response, and kissed down her neck to her collar bone. Ginny let out a low moan, just in time for Ron and Hermione to hear, and see, as they walked through the portrait hole.

Hermione was smirking like a Cheshire cat, while Ron looked like he was about to be sick. Ginny was waiting for him to flip out, and was sufficiently shocked when he simply turned to look away, that she forgot to tell Harry that they had company. Hermione cleared her throat loudly, attracting both of her friend's attention.

Harry immediately ceased kissing her, and Ginny glared at her friend, ready to unleash the famous Weasley temper.

"Damn you both! What did you do, eat at the speed of light just so you could get back here in time to interrupt us? Dinner started five minutes ago!"

"Actually no, Ginny, we've been looking for you two for a bout three hours, and we were just sitting down to dinner when Ron remembered that we could check The Map, so we were coming up to get it, and well, that's where you come in."

Ron was still facing the wall, steadfastly not looking at any of the other three.

"Alright over there Ron?" called Harry.

"Oh yes, just Obliviating myself, is it safe to turn around so I can get Hermione to help?" he asked.

"Define safe." replied Harry.

"My sister's shirt is back on properly, and your un-liplocked."

"Give us a minute. O.K. safe."

Ron turned around, glad to see his best friend and his sister fully clothed, and their faces several inches apart, even if Ginny was still sitting on Harry.

"Do me a favor," he said "the next time you two decide to do that, make sure I either know to stay away, am unconscious, or dead."

"Not a problem dear brother, personally I prefer the latter." answered Ginny.

"Very funny Gin-gin, or should I just owl mum and let her know that your publicly sporting a Potter-hicky?"

"I do not have a h-" started Ginny, until she saw Harry's face.

"Reflecto." said Harry, using the mirror spell so that Ginny could look at her own neck.

Sure enough there was a bruise already forming where Harry had been sucking her neck, and it was going to be a good one. Ginny turned her glare on her boyfriend, who was smiling broadly.

"What are you smiling at Harry?" she asked, annoyed.

"Well it's just that now there's gonna be now doubt in anyone's mind." said Harry.

"No doubt about what?" asked Ginny warily.

"That I spent about half an hour kissing you tonight." answered Harry.

"I don't think anyone, anywhere, has any doubt about that." said Ron with a snort.

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron "whenever someone asks where you are the best answer is always: 'snogging Ginny'. It's almost never wrong."

"Do I really spend that much time with Ginny?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, you spend nearly all your free time with her." said Ron.

"Hmm, guess I'll have to stop complaining about not spending enough time with you."

Ron and Hermione both had shocked looks on their faces as Harry and Ginny left the Common Room together.

"What does he mean? He spends ever bloody bit of free time he has with her anyway." said Ron.

"Language Ron. Think of it this way, it's that much more time you get to spend with me."

A smile lit up Ron's face as he worked himself into much the same position Harry and Ginny had been in moments ago.

The next morning Harry was up bright and early, too early in his opinion. It was Monday, and he had been excused from classes to attend first, Jake's funeral, and then the Memorial Service at the Ministry. While he didn't really feel like going to the Ministry and dealing with Fudge, again, he had little choice. Jake had died to save him after all, and it was fitting that he be there to help make sure he was never forgotten. The surviving family members of Grindelwald's victims would be there as well.

Dumbledore met him in the Entrance Hall, and together, in reflective silence, they walked down to the village of Hogsmeade.

"Take a tight grip on my arm Harry, we shall be Apperating to the funeral. Do not worry, I will do the work, you must only hold on tightly."

Harry took a good grip on his headmaster's arm, vaguely wondering what Apparition would feel like. He got his answer moments later, as a sensation rather like being squeezed through a small hose overtook him. By the time he realized it, however, it was gone, and they were in a completely different place. It looked like a small town or village, and up the road Harry could see a small cemetery, which was a little crowded for a regular day, but still didn't look a funeral was going on.

As they made their way into the cemetery, the crowd began to part, letting Dumbledore, who they seemed to recognize, and Harry, who they didn't, get through. When they reached the front, Dumbledore nodded to the Priest, and the funeral began. Harry was only half-listening, he was more interested in looking around at the people that had gather to see off a man supposedly no one knew.

When his eyes reached the lone figure standing in the back, trying to hide in the shadows, he didn't immediately register that someone was even there. He looked back again quickly, thinking that he recognized the person, but it was hard to tell in the shadows. He, or she, was wearing a long dark cloak, obviously a witch or wizard, and a strange round hat, decidedly muggle looking, which covered his face.

When the figure felt Harry's eyes on them, they looked up at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and Harry gasped as recognition dawned on his face.

**A/N—I just love cliffies, don't you? Don't worry, next chapter coming soon. My offer still stands, anyone who can guess who Jake is based off of gets written into the story, maybe I'll even let you go on a blind date with Ginny… but we'll see.**

**The WoLf At BaY. **


	22. The Sum of His Fears

"_Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together- what do you get? The sum of their fears." – Winston Churchill _

**The WoLf At BaY and Leigh Proudly Present Chapter 22:**

**The Sum of His Fears**

**A/N—Freckles refused to help me with this, which explains why it's one in the morning and I'm eating cold Chinese food. WARNING!! We will be earning our M rating in the next few chapters for violence, gore, and torture. Sorry. You have been warned!**

Cold gray eyes met vibrant green, shivers went down spines, and ignorant strangers pulled their coats tighter against the sudden chill. They waved it off as just a quirk of the fall weather, but two present knew better. Albus Dumbledore's head snapped up when he felt a dreadfully familiar cold, he looked immediately to Harry, who usually felt a Dementor sooner than others. Harry's eyes were locked on something, or someone across the cemetery, Dumbledore followed his gaze, his brain taking only a few seconds to reach the same conclusion Harry's had.

At almost the same moment two wands came up, adjusted aim, and sent various Hexes and Curses at Lucius Malfoy, who was fast enough to dodge and block the first, but not the second wave, of the incoming spells. He fell to the ground, knocked out cold, just as fifty Dementors materialized behind him.

Harry tried desperately to think of a happy thought, no easy task with fifty soul-sucking Dementors bearing down on him. His mind cycled quickly through everything to do with Quidditch, but that wasn't going to do it. He settled on Valentines Day with Ginny, if that wasn't his happiest memory, he didn't know what was.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The now familiar silver stag shot forth from his wand, followed by a silver phoenix from Dumbledore's wand. The two glowing Patronus charged down the Dementors, scattering them, but not enough to drive them off, or hold them for long. Fortunately all of the people present had huddled together, none of them knowing what was really going on. This made them easier to protect, but Harry's strength was failing quickly, and he knew that he couldn't keep a stable Patronus for long. Dumbledore seemed to sense this, as his Patronus vanished, and Harry looked over to see him talking into a small mirror.

Harry couldn't make out the words his Headmaster was saying, but it was the same word over and over. No sooner had Dumbledore put away the mirror and re-cast his Patronus, Order members began Apperating in. A total of fifteen witches and wizards, counting Harry and Dumbledore, managed to force off the Dementors. Harry was exhausted, he knew he was close to passing out, and was leaning heavily on Sirius, who had come with what looked like all the most capable Hogwarts Professors. Professor McGonagall was there, as was Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape, and Hagrid.

Dumbledore had come back, levitating an unconscious Malfoy behind him. Once Harry saw all of the Professors together, here, now, something in his tired mind clicked.

"Professor, if you're all here, who's guarding the castle?"

The face of every single professor dropped to horror, even Professor Dumbledore's, as the implications of Harry's question sunk in. Dumbledore vanished instantly, leaving Harry to pass out, due to exhaustion, in Sirius' arms.

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were eating in the Great Hall, as usual, and generally enjoying the weekend. Well Ron and Hermione were enjoying it, Ginny was wishing that her boyfriend was there with her, instead of being at several funerals with the Headmaster. Ginny was just about to tell Ron and Hermione to stop being so happy and keep her company, when Draco Malfoy let out a triumphant 'whoop' of joy. Every face in the Hall was turned towards the Slytherin, wondering what had him in such a good mood.

The sound of thundering explosions, the sound of wards crashing to be more precise, and the quick footfalls of running feet gave them their answer. The student population of Hogwarts watched in silent fear and shock as robed and masked Death Eaters stormed into the Great Hall. All of the main teachers were absent, they had left all at once about fifteen minutes after Harry had. Professor Sprout, who was acting Headmistress, tried to resist, as well as the other teachers.

They never stood a chance.

Death Eaters, trained personally by Voldemort, cut them down with remorseless Killing Curses.

Voldemort himself, unmasked, his pale, snake-like face bared for all to see, entered the Great Hall, as a King enters a conquered Hall. It sent a shiver down the spine of everyone present.

He looked back and forth maliciously from table to table as he made his way to the Teacher's Table, where he settled himself into Professor Dumbledore's chair.

Up until this point, everyone in the Great Hall had been too shocked, and scared to do anything more than stare. As soon as Ginny was able to recover herself, her instincts kicked in and told her to do something, anything. Lucky for her, Hermione seemed to be expecting this, and quickly stopped her.

"Ginny, you can't do anything but die, sit tight and wait for Harry." The older girl quickly whispered in Ginny's ear, trying to make her see sense.

Much as Ginny hated to admit it, it made sense, all they could do was sit and wait for help. Harry and Professor Dumbledore were still out there, along with the rest of the Order, and they would come to everyone's rescue, just like they always did.

Eyes turned from friends back to the Teachers Table, where Draco Malfoy was kneeling before Voldemort.

"You have done well Draco, you will be rewarded. What do you wish of your master?" hissed Voldemort.

No one could hear what Draco said, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind when he stood and turned that he was going to get exactly what he wanted. No one missed the fact that he was looking at three certain Gryffindors, either.

Harry awoke in a panic, he didn't know where he was, and the last thing he remembered involved Dementors, Death Eaters, and being scared out of his mind about Hogwarts. Needless to say, it was all very confusing. It became even more confusing when he realized that he was looking up at all of his Professors from school, minus Professor Sprout.

"Um what's going on? And if you're all here, who's at Hogwarts?"

Grim faces looked down at him, no one seemed to want to tell him anything. Harry's eyes found Sirius, who looked on the verge of tears, and silently pleaded with his godfather to tell him.

"That's exactly it, we're all here, including Dumbledore. The Dementor attack was a set-up, to draw us out. Voldemort has taken over Hogwarts."

The implications of Sirius' words took nearly a full minute to register in Harry's mind. But when it did, it caused a knot in his stomach such as he could barely stand.

"Ginny… Ron… Hermione…" Harry's voice was so low that only Sirius, who was not sitting beside him, could hear it.

"We don't know Harry, Albus went to check on things, but he came back almost instantly, told us that Voldemort had taken Hogwarts, and then went to get the rest of the Order. There are about fifty people here, mostly downstairs, and we're waiting on you." Said Sirius.

"Why are you waiting on me?" asked Harry, forgetting his dread in place of surprise.

"Because Professor Dumbledore has decided to include you in the Order, until Hogwarts is retaken." Answered Professor McGonagall.

Harry nodded mutely, he really wasn't able to think clearly enough to talk at the moment, he was too worried about what was happening to his friends at Hogwarts. There were simply too many horrible possibilities. Harry didn't even notice when he entered the kitchen, where he was now surrounded by nearly the entire Order.

The sound of Dumbledore's voice snapped him back to reality.

"I am, extremely sorry to find it necessary to say this. Lord Voldemort has taken over Hogwarts." There was a strangled sob from Mrs. Weasley as Dumbledore paused. "He managed to lure all of the teachers, as well as Harry, out of the castle this morning, and swept in while we were busy. I am deeply sorry to have failed so badly in my duties as Headmasters. Those of you with family members or friends in Hogwarts, I promise you I shall do everything in my power to regain control of my school before anyone is harmed. Fortunately for us, we have Harry and Sirius with us."

The last bit caused quite a stir, mostly between Harry and Sirius, who had no idea why they would be so useful.

"Harry and Sirius posses a knowledge of Hogwarts castle that rivals my own, and Harry knows more of the student body than any teacher ever could. If I could pick any one student to have with us now, it would be Harry. However, I am open to suggestions as to how to proceed, needless to say, this situation has never been contemplated."

"Well you had better start contemplating it," said Mrs. Weasley "because this is one situation that needs to get un-fucked while my children are still alive!"

Harry had never heard Mrs. Weasley swear before, but, he supposed, if there was ever a time to start, now was it.

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, Ron knows nearly every secret passageway and secret room in Hogwarts, he'll keep himself, and Ginny, safe." It was the first time Harry had spoken, but it was more to reassure himself than Mrs. Weasley. He was scared out of his mind for his friends, and for Ginny, as Voldemort now had the perfect bait.

Mrs. Weasley burst into further sobs, muffled by her husband, as every eye turned to the end of the table where Dumbledore, Harry, and Sirius sat.

"Well don't look at me," said Harry "I haven't got a clue."

The eyes of the Order turned on Sirius next, who only shrugged, clearly he had even less ideas than Harry, which was saying something as Harry had none. Finally everyone's gaze made it to Dumbledore, but they were once again disappointed.

"I am sorry, but I do think we shall need more time to consider our options."

This only brought fresh sobs from Mrs. Weasley, who was doubtless trying not to think of all the dreadful things that could be happening while they sat here, thinking. Harry knew this because he was thinking the same thing, only his wakeful nightmares centered on what dozens of sadistic Death Eaters would do to the girlfriend of their worst enemy. They sat there, almost the entire Order of the Phoenix, for nearly an hour, thinking in silence, before someone spoke.

"Fuck it."

Most people didn't hear it, and those that did were looking around to see who had said it.

"Yeah… fuck it." said the same voice.

More people were looking around now, trying to see who had spoken.

"Fuck it!"

It was much louder this time, and Harry was laughing as he said it.

Mrs. Weasley looked like she was about to correct him for his swearing, but after her earlier outburst she could hardly do that. She was, of course, more interested in why he was laughing at a time like this, as was everyone else.

"Fuck it, I know how to do it."

This brightened up everyone's mood, even the people who thought he was crazy.

"How Harry?" asked the calm voice of Professor Dumbledore.

"It's simple really, now that he has Hogwarts, what's the one thing he really wants, the one thing he'll expose himself to get?"

No one spoke.

"Anyone?"

Still nothing.

"No? Well the answer, is me."

"And how does this help us?" sneered Snape.

"One word: Bait."

Ten different voices all yelling "No" at the same time can be very annoying, especially when you think you're right and they're wrong.

"No listen, I can lure him out of Hogwarts, then Professor Dumbledore and I keep him busy, while you go in and kick some Death Eater ass."

Silence reigned once more over the room.

"Harry," Mrs. Weasley was speaking very slowly "you know I love you like a son, which is why I'm telling you that that's the most stupid idea in history."

"Anyone got a better idea? Or should we sit here and think while innocent children, your children Mrs. Weasley, are being tortured."

"We're going to need help." Commented Remus Lupin.

"Let me worry about that." Said Kingsly Shacklebolt, whom Harry knew to be an Auror.

"Before we decide on anything, let us hear the rest of Harry's plan." Dumbledore even seemed to be curious.

The Great Hall of Hogwarts castle has been called many things in the thousand years since it was built. But never in all that time, not even in the days when Salazar Slytherin himself set his Basilisk loose on the school was it called the scene of a massacre.

Today was apparently a day of firsts, because that was exactly what had gone on in the Great Hall in the hour since Voldemort and his followers had gained entrance.

They seemed to have some kind of list they were working off of, because most of the students singled out had been in some way connected to the Order, or particularly forceful anti-Voldemort figures. No one even wanted to think about what had happened to Susan Bones, whose aunt had been key in the Ministry's plans. She had literally begged for her death by the time they were done with her. Lord Voldemort had been only too happy to oblige her… after every Death Eater in the Hall had had a turn.

Ginny was still sitting at the Gryffindor table, though there was a lot more room now, clinging tightly to her older brothers, Fred and George were on her other side, nearly paralyzed with fear. Given what was happening to all those who were close to the Order, whether Voldemort knew about it directly or not, she was sure that she was going to suffer worse than Susan had, and that would only be after watching Hermione and her brothers tortured and killed. It was not something she was looking forward to.

Ron, Fred, and George Weasley were sitting protectively over their little sister, and to a slightly lesser extent, Hermione, ready to do anything they could to protect them. They all shared the same thoughts as Ginny, but unlike her, they did not fear for themselves at all. All three of them knew without a doubt that they would do whatever they could, even if it was their last act, to protect Ginny and Hermione, and that was enough for them.

Hermione was probably the worst off of the five. She had not grown up listening to stories about The First Rise, and she had never known the terror that Voldemort and his Death Eaters delighted in. Her mind simply could not accept that such disgustingly evil people existed, and that they were here, and that no one could do anything about it. it didn't help that she was still in shock from watching what had happened to Susan Bones. Not that she had been only one to die a gruesome death today. Nor would she be the last.

Everyone was startled out of their thoughts by a now familiar hissing voice.

"Hannah Abbot, where are you?"

'_Please, please Hannah don't say anything, don't move, please, please…' _But Ginny's silent prayers were not to be answered.

Hannah Abbot proved that day that she could have been in Gryffindor, as she showed more courage than anyone in the Great Hall had ever seen.

"I'm right here snake-face!" she yelled, jumping to her feet In defiance.

Ginny groaned silently as she saw a sadistic smile on Voldemort's face.

"Your mother's cousin was Marlene McKinnon, was she not?" asked the Dark Lord.

"She was, and I've spent my whole life hearing stories about all the times she's kicked your ass."

Voldemort had a strange, and very frightening, look of glee on his face, he seemed excited by Hannah's daring.

"Well there's no denying it now, you have all of your Aunts fire, and insolence, I think I'll brake it out of you the same way I broke it out of her… CRUCIO!"

Hannah dropped the floor as the curse hit her, doing her best not to cry out in pain as her body spasmed. She lasted almost a minute before her agonized shrieks grated against the ears of all present. All the while Voldemort was laughing maniacally, joined by a Death Eater who sounded distinctly female.

After nearly three minutes, Voldemort released the curse, leaving the once proud girl crying on the floor, curled into a small ball.

"But where is all of your defiance now little girl? I thought you wanted to die proud and brave, like your Aunt?" hissed Voldemort.

Miraculously, Hannah rose to her feet. There were four people supporting her, but she was on her feet in front of the Dark Lord nonetheless.

"It's still here you bastard, and no matter what you do, it always will be. Kill me if you want, but it won't matter, someone else will pick right up where I leave off."

"Skizor!"

No one in the Hall, at least none of the student, recognized the spell, but when a blood red arc of light shot out of Voldemort's wand, streaking towards Hannah, most people got the idea. It was only reinforced when the curse hit, neatly cleaving the brave Hufflepuff in two. It took nearly a full minute for both pieces to separate and fall to the floor.

Voldemort was laughing again, head thrown back in joy at the pain and suffering, and the fear he was causing. The female Death Eater was laughing too, and randomly casting the Cruciatus Curse at the Gryffindor table. Ginny winced when she felt Fred stiffen as he took a Curse meant for her. To his credit, not a single noise escaped Fred's mouth as the deranged witch tortured him, not even bothering to care, before moving on.

Ginny dared a glance up, she had quickly looked down when the curse had hit Hannah, and her eyes met perfectly with those of Draco Malfoy. The look on face clearly told her exactly why she hadn't been harmed yet, and exactly what he had requested of his master.

"I'll need another wand." said Harry.

He was still in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, he had asked Sirius where they were after explaining his plan.

"I think there's a few extra ones in the big closet in the dining room, be careful though, no telling what lives in there now." answered Sirius.

Harry nodded and made his way to the formal dining room. Sirius was right, the closet was huge, bigger than his bedroom at Number 4 Private Drive had been. He quickly found the box with the wands, and tried a few out. None of them were as good as his own wand, but he found one that was better than the others, and slipped into the wrist holster that Sirius had provided him with. His Holly wand was already in the holster on his other wrist.

"Do you think this is gonna work?" he asked Sirius after re-entering the kitchen.

"I think that if you get yourself killed, there's going to be a line of angry women trying to hurt me, the first two of which will be both redheads and Weasleys, so do try not to die, O.K.?"

"Will do Sirius, will do."

_POP!_

The very distinct sound of someone Apperating into the room caused both to spin around, wands in hand, but it was only Kingsly.

"Well?" asked Harry.

"All set, I got twenty we can trust, and they're all damn good."

"Good, I was hoping for more, but quality above quantity and all that right?" said Harry.

It only took a few minutes for everyone to gather in the kitchen. The full Order of the Phoenix was present, plus Harry, and they were all, including Harry, geared for a fight. Billowing robes and long cloaks had been abandoned, in all but Dumbledore's case, for tighter fitting clothing that would allow for ease of movement.

"Right," said Harry "there's going to be twenty or so Aurors joining us once we get there, so no worries, lets just go get the castle back. Oh, by the way, the Unforgivables… they just became forgivable. Do what you have to."

No one spoke, not a single person in the room wasn't ready to kill, or to die, to protect the students of Hogwarts.

Dumbledore held out one Port-key, Kingsly had another, and Tonks had the last. All at once they were whisked off from the grimy kitchen and deposited in a clearing in Hogsmeade, to find twenty wands pointed at them.

"Flash!" yelled Kingsly.

"Thunder!" came the reply.

"Everyone here?" asked Kingsly.

The Auror who seemed to be in charge nodded, while taking in each of the Order members, his eyes lingered on Harry, but he wisely chose not to comment.

"Let's go, and remember, be safe, you can do little good if you are dead." said Professor Dumbledore, as he led the seventy or so witches and wizards towards his school.

When they came to the gates Dumbledore nodded at Harry, who ran a little ways ahead, intending to go through with his plan, and lure out Voldemort. That's when things went wrong, as Death Eaters streamed out of the castle, ready and waiting for them.

Voldemort was torturing one of the younger students, a Ravenclaw that none of the Gryffindors knew. Ginny and Hermione were silently crying against Ron's shoulders, both wondering when it would be their turn. Ginny was just glad of a good reason not to have to see Draco Malfoy at all, she could feel his eyes on her, and that only made it worse.

The scene in the Great Hall was interrupted when some Death Eater ran in, screaming for Voldemort.

"My Lord!"

Voldemort ignored him.

"MY Lord!"

He tried again but still his master ignored him.

"MY LORD VOLDEMORT!"

This got Voldemort's attention.

"What?!" screamed Voldemort, angry at having his fun interrupted.

"We've got company!" yelled the Death Eater frantically, pointing in the general direction of the grounds.

"What do you mean?" asked the Dark Lord.

"I mean WE'VE GOT COMPANY!" Screamed the Death Eater.

"Very well, go out and greet them my friends, I'll stay here and keep an eye on our toys."

The Death Eaters in the Hall, probably around forty or so, left at once to do their masters bidding.

Ginny's heart leapt in her chest, if someone was counter-attacking the castle, then Harry must have had something to do with it. She only hoped that Harry wasn't with them, and that whoever it was won.

Draco spoke up, almost as if he had read her thoughts.

"Don't get your hopes up, pathetic Potter may have come to save his slut, but that will only make it easier for my Lord to kill him. I only hope he is captured, so that he can watch what I'm going to do to you."

Ginny fought the urge to retch, and she knew that the only thing stopping her brothers from attacking Malfoy was the fact that all of this was happing under the watchful eyes of Voldemort himself.

"Harry are you sure you want to go through with this?" asked Dumbledore.

They hadn't counted on this many Death Eaters, or on the Death Eaters coming out to meet them. It was a very different playing field now.

"Let me explain some things to you:

My girlfriend is in there.

My two best friends are in there.

Fred and George are in there.

I'm not in there.

Neither is anyone else who can help them.

Voldemort is in there.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione are about as high up on his hit-list as I am.

This represents the sum of all my fears, there is no way in hell that I am not getting through those Death Eaters, and into that castle. Now shut up and help."

**A/N—This is my longest chapter in a while, but never fear, the next one shall be even longer! And don't worry, I'm not about to turn this into a torture fest, or a horror story. There will be gore, pain, and torture, that's just how I am. But I guarantee there will always be more fluff and happy thoughts. I promise. Please don't stop reading. **

**The WoLf At BaY.**


	23. CounterAttack!

"_You obviously do not know who you are fucking with!" – Riddick, The Chronicles of Riddick_

**The WoLf At BaY, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 23:**

**Counter-Attack**

_**A/N—that's right folks, Freckles has forgiven me, which means that I should have some idea what I'm writing, as I'm writing it, instead of winging it. This is bad news for my History teacher, seeing as how I'm completely ignoring her to write this.**_

Ginny could hear the screaming coming from outside. She didn't know who it was doing the screaming, but none of the voices sounded familiar, so she hoped it was the Death Eaters screaming, and not anyone from the Order. Of course, she only knew about five of the members outside of her family well enough to recognize their voice, but some hope was better than nothing right now. She could see Voldemort, listening with apparent glee to the screams, not even caring if they were coming from his own servants.

The students in the Hall were, if possible, even more scared than they had been. At least before they had been able to see what was going on, there was something unnerving about not knowing what was happening, especially with the now higher pitched screams. Very few besides Ginny and her family knew about the Order of the Phoenix, it was a secret society after all, so they probably didn't even know that there was anyone out there to try to save them. If anything, they might have thought that there was a force of Aurors outside, but how would the Ministry even know what had happened? It had only been a single hour after all.

Draco Malfoy turned towards his master, his eyes silently asking for permission.

The Dark Lord nodded slightly, granting Draco that what he wanted.

Draco turned back towards the Weasleys and Hermione, smiling evilly.

Everyone stared at Harry in shocked silence for a few minutes. To the best of their knowledge no one had ever told Dumbledore to 'shut up' before, let alone one of his own students. Everyone was expecting the Headmaster to reprimand the young Gryffindor, so, needless to say, they were shocked when the old wizard merely nodded, gesturing for Harry to take the lead.

Harry was just as shocked as everyone else, he had never been treated as an equal by adults before. Being counted as a leader among the most respected witches and wizards in the world was slightly unnerving, but it beat being left back at the house, told to hide like a helpless child. Dumbledore's gesture for him to take the lead not only reaffirmed this, but it also gave him courage, as he realized that it wasn't a command, or a suggestion, it was permission. Albus Dumbledore was giving him permission to do just about the dumbest thing he could possibly think of, and lending the entire Order of the Phoenix to help.

But Harry barely had time to wonder at this new revelation, that could wait until later, his only concern now was getting to Ginny as quickly as possible, before anyone else did. The plan that they had come up with was shot, as the Death Eaters could see them and were waiting for them, so Harry improvised.

He pulled out both of the wands he was carrying and started casting Explosion Hexes as fast as he could, from both wands. The Order and the Aurors soon joined him. Harry didn't even bother to aim, he just indiscriminately shot Hexes at anyone wearing black. He was shouting the same word over and over so fast his brain was starting to make it sound like gibberish, as tends to happen when one repeats the same word many times quickly.

"EXPLODRA, EXPLODRA, EXPLODRA, EXPLODRA,EXPLODRA, EXPLODRA, EXPLODRA!"

The bright yellow spells were flying forth from both wands in rapid succession, the visual effect was a light show similar to that of a muggle machine gun. The physical effect more closely resembled many, many small bombs going off. The other seventy odd witches and wizards were firing off spells for all they were worth, but none nearly so fast, or so deadly effective, as Harry.

Harry had pulled slightly ahead of the others, moving down the path he had forcefully carved through the Death Eaters, with the result being that he was now in the bottom of a semi-circle of black-robed people, all trying to kill him, and doing a very poor job of it. The Death Eaters out in the front had been mostly newer, younger ones, the seasoned killers from the First War were waiting in the back. It was upon these that Harry would soon be coming against, and he was saving his fury for them. He knew that blind fury would aid him well, but his slightly advanced knowledge of offensive magic, courtesy of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and Sirius, he would be saving for when he got inside.

Harry Potter had not failed to notice that Lord Voldemort was absent from the field.

He was doubtless inside, letting his slaves do all the work. That was just fine with Harry, who was planning on forcing his way into the castle anyway.

That was when he found himself face to face with Peter Pettigrew. Fortunately for him, Harry, and unfortunately for him, Pettigrew, was the fact that Harry was also back to back with Sirius. It was time for the last two Marauders, figuratively speaking, to take revenge on the fourth, on the traitor.

Sirius was busy dueling the Death Eater who had tried to attack Harry's back, he wasn't sure who it was, and Harry was staring down Pettigrew, daring the man to make a move. He was almost hoping that Pettigrew would stand and fight, for once, he would have the perfect chance to avenge his parents. Another part of Harry's brain told him that he would never, could never, kill someone, but being sentenced to a lifetime of Dementor's was just as bad, if not worse than death, wasn't it?

Harry's say in the matter was taken away when Peter made the first move. Using courage that Harry would not have believed of his father's worst friend, Wormtail stood his ground, and shot a stunner at Harry, clearly thinking that this would be an easy task.

Harry contemptuously blocked the stunner, which shot back at Peter, followed by an Explosion Hex, and two of Harry's own stunner's. Wormtail managed to avoid his own stunner, but not the Explosion Hex, which blew him backward, only to be knocked in the gut by one of Harry's stunner's. The ex-Marauder was out of this fight, and probably would suffer permanent damage, not that Harry felt a shred of remorse, he had more important things to deal with at the moment.

Sirius neatly stunned the Death Eater he was fighting, then turned to help Harry. He was just in time to see his one time friend land in a crumpled heap, and his godson return to shooting Explosion Hexes at an alarming rate. The Death Eaters were slowly parting, clearing a path up to the castle, but one Death Eater wasn't moving. Even with the mask and billowing robes, Sirius recognized the long blonde hair of Lucius Malfoy.

"Go Harry, I'll take care of this."

Sirius knew that Harry could probably beat the elder Malfoy, there just want time. This was taking too long as it was, and speed was a large part of the plan, especially now that surprise was shot. He raised his wand, took careful aim, and shot a very powerful Blasting Curse at Lucius. It hit full on, once again sending the blonde Death Eater flying, this was becoming a habit. Lucius regained his feet quickly, unlike last time, and, also unlike last time, he came up fighting.

Sirius couldn't hear the exact incantations over the noise of the battle going on, but he could tell by the color, speed and power of the spells that they were all very Dark, and many were Unforgivables. Rather than take his chances with shields, Sirius opted to duck and roll, coming to one knee about ten feet to the left of his original position. Two quick stunner's, then another roll, to the right this time, brought him much closer to Malfoy. He took a leaf out of Harry's book, sending five Explosion Hexes in rapid succession at Lucius, while ducking the Killing Curses that flew at him.

Only one of Sirius hexes hit, but it was enough to knock down Lucius for a half a minute, during which Sirius hit him with another Explosion Hex, and a strong stunner. Lucius Malfoy was out of the fight for a while. Sirius only hesitated long enough to check on everyone else, before hurrying off into the castle after his godson.

Harry heard Sirius' shout, and trusted that Sirius could handle whatever 'this' was. He instead ran deeper into the Death Eaters, blasting and cursing a path towards the castle doors. He was closely followed by the young Auror who seemed to be in charge of the other Aurors. They stopped and looked at each other, sizing each other up.

"Name's Donaldson." The Auror introduced himself.

"Potter." Answered Harry.

"You want to go first, or shall I?" asked Donaldson.

"I'll go first, you cover me." Harry didn't wait for a reply, he just moved slowly through the doors, expecting someone to jump out at any moment. Moody's favorite saying blasting silently through his head. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Donaldson followed him about five feet back, glancing behind them every few steps. Fortunately, none of the Death Eaters outside seemed to know that the pair had made it inside, or if they did, they weren't about to follow.

Harry was just wondering where he should go first, he hadn't really planned that part out to well, and now he was going to make a fool of himself in front of the Auror, when he heard a sickeningly familiar voice coming from the Great Hall. He couldn't make out the words, but there was no mistaking the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. Harry turned and signaled to Donaldson to move towards the Great Hall.Donaldson took up on the left side of the doors, Harry on the right. The young Auror held up three fingers, and Harry nodded in understanding.

Donaldson dropped one finger, and Harry tightened his grip on the wands in his hands.

Donaldson dropped the second finger, and Harry braced his legs, ready to fly through the doors.

Donaldson dropped the last finger, and almost in perfect synchronization, they pushed off hard, bursting into the Great Hall together.

The first thing that Auror First Class Richard Donaldson saw in the Great Hall of Hogwarts was the snaky, ugly figure of Voldemort. The monster was staring at the two new entrants to the Hall, gleefully at Harry, and with confusion at him. Donaldson threw the first curse, resigned to the fact that he was going to fight the Dark Lord.

The first things that Harry Potter, Gryffindor Prefect, saw upon entering the Great Hall were his fellow Gryffindors. More specifically the ones with red hair, even more specifically, the female one. The one who was desperately trying to get Draco Malfoy off of her. Cold fury filled Harry, and he centered both wands on Draco's shocked face, casting the most powerful Blasting Curses he could.

Draco hit the far wall with a loud crunch, and slid to the floor, out cold. Harry didn't have any time to celebrate however, as a shout of pain turned his attention to Donaldson, who was dueling furiously with Voldemort, and losing. The shout of pain had been a nasty Slicing Hex which the Auror had taken to the side, and was now bleeding.

Harry rushed to the man's side, quickly used the most reliable Healing Spell he knew, which slowed the bleeding, and did what he could to help in the duel. Two on one odds was hardly fair, but then again, neither was invading a school full of children.

Five minutes into the fight and Harry was already exhausted and bleeding, as was Donaldson. They had been forced to let several Dark Curses hit them, rather than let them hit the students, and it was taking its toll. They wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Harry ducked under a Killing Curse, he couldn't do much about that anyway, and shot an Explosion Hex, followed by two Cutting Curses. Voldemort blocked them with a sneer, and threw a Cruciatus Curse at Donaldson. The Auror took the curse, and fell to his knees, desperately trying not to scream with the intense pain.

Harry took advantage of Voldemort's concentration being on torturing Donaldson, and dived to the side of Voldemort, throwing his favorite Explosion Hex. His aim was true, and the Dark Lord was sent flying across the Hall, in much the same manor as Draco.

Donaldson wasn't moving, Harry couldn't tell but he thought the man may have passed out. Harry was tired, bruised, and bleeding, not to mention in severe pain, and exhausted. There was no way he could keep moving, even if he wanted to.

Albus Dumbledore was torn between staying and helping the Order mop up the remaining Death Eaters, and going back into his beloved castle, and expelling Voldemort from it. His mind was made up when he saw Harry and an Auror, he thought his name might be Donaldson, run into the Entrance Hall. Dumbledore made his way quickly toward the castle, it was easier for him than for anyone else, as none of the Death Eaters seemed to want to face him.

About six minutes later the Headmaster of Hogwarts entered his Great Hall, to see his students cheering wildly, and Harry Potter almost passed out on the floor. The Auror was not far away, in worse shape than Harry. His twinkling blue eyes found Voldemort, who was just getting to his feet. Dumbledore made to attack the Dark Lord, but Voldemort was gone before he could, obviously having taken a Port-Key. He saw Draco Malfoy not far away, unconscious, but disregarded him.

Harry's eyes flickered open to see a familiar pair of half-moon spectacles, then a familiar pain of blue eyes. He passed out just after registering that he was safe, and that something warm, and very familiar had just landed on him.

Sirius Black walked into the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, looking for his godson, as usual. The boy spent more time in here than he did at home. But at least this time it had been for a good reason. Dueling Voldemort, and winning no less, was a very good reason to end up in the Hospital Wing. Of course a certain redheaded, future Potter might not agree with that completely. In fact, Sirius knew for a fact that she was very angry with Harry, and he had no pity for his godson.

Harry was laying in his usual bed, his cuts and his broken arm had all been healed. Harry hadn't even notice his arm was broken, according to the students present, he had just fought through the break. There was already a story being released in the evening addition of the Prophet, but there was going to be a press storm as soon as it became common knowledge that Harry was awake, which should be sometime in the next hour.

Sirius joined Ginny in her bedside vigil, for the third time, and waited for Harry to wake up, so that they could admonish him for taking stupid risks, and then praise him for his bravery and skill. It was a garishly familiar routine. It took Sirius a few minutes to realize that Ginny was crying silent tears.

"What's wrong Ginny?" asked Sirius.

"You mean apart from my unconscious boyfriend?" asked Ginny sarcastically.

"You've seen him out of it far too often for that to be the only thing wrong." Answered Sirius calmly.

"It's just, what happened, before you all got here, it was horrible, you saw?"

"Yeah, I saw what was left, I can guess how it happened."

"I don't have to guess," said Ginny "I had to watch it, and he loved it, I saw the look in his eyes, it was the same look that Harry gets when he kisses me, or when we go flying, or when you take us to a Quidditch match, it was sickening to see that look on His face."

Sirius couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he just put a comforting hand on the girls shoulder.

"It took me four and a half years to find the things that truly made Harry happy, and made him forget how bad he has things, I love to see him so happy. It only took me six hours to see what makes Him forget about his life, and make him truly happy. I just, they're so alike, Him and Harry, I know that Harry would never go Dark or anything, but it still sickens me that something so vile and evil, can be so similar to someone whose so caring and nice, and loving, someone who I love."

Sirius continued his silence, vaguely wondering if Ginny and Harry had actually told each other that they loved one another. He knew it was true, he was already trying to think of a good wedding gift, but the question was if they knew it. He was distracted from his thoughts by a low moan, and movement on the bed.

Harry's eyes flicked open slowly, his entire body ached, and he wished he could go back to sleep, but he knew that Ginny was there, he had heard her talking to Sirius, and he had heard what she had said. He welcomed her into his arms, cherishing her loving embrace, and whispered softly in her ear.

"I love you too Gin."

**A/N—Guess What?? That's the end of the M rated material for a while, well maybe not completely, I cant promise that Harry and Ginny won't get carried away, but no more violence for a long time. There are only going to be four or five chapters like the last one, in the entire story. I know you all prefer fluff, and I do too. The next chapter is going to feature our favorite couple of couples comforting each other, that means Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Remus and Tonks finally get together, and Sirius might just find the right girl this time. **

**The WoLf At BaY.**


	24. Brief Respite

"_Up and at 'em bright and early,  
I'm all business in my suit,  
Yeah, I'm dressed for success from my head down to my boots,  
I don't do it for money, there's still bills that I can't pay,  
I don't do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,  
Providing for our future's my responsibility,  
Yeah I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,  
And I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekends been to strong,  
I just work straight through the holidays,  
And sometimes all night long.  
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,  
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,  
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,  
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,  
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,  
But if dyings asked of me,  
I'll bear that cross with an honor,  
'Cause freedom don't come free__._

_When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right,  
I'm out here on the front lines, so sleep in peace tonight_._" – American Soldier, Toby Keith_

**The WoLf At BaY, Freckles, and Leigh Are Proud to Present Chapter 24:**

**A Brief Respite**

**Bold Face typing indicates a song playing over a radio, or other musical device.**

Underlined typing indicates a song being sung by a character.

**That's right, I said songs. There will be two of them in this longer-than-usual chapter.**

Harry was confined to the Hospital Wing for a further three days, due to the fact that he was completely exhausted, but Ginny and Sirius had other plans for him; Plans that involved kidnapping him at three in the morning. It was a good thing that he had recognized Ginny's hair in the moonlight, and been _very_ distracted by it, or he might have seriously hurt his girlfriend and godfather. Being woken up by hushed voices in the middle of the night, and then picked up in the dark, tended to make Harry very nervous.

Harry was about halfway to the Entrance Hall, feigning sleep, even though no one could possibly sleep through being carried anywhere by Sirius. Ginny was much gentler, but there really was no easy way to be carried down corridors in the dead of night. He was very curious as to where he was being taken, but he decided that it would be worth it to play along, and scare the crap out of them later. Once they reached the grounds Harry's curiosity was nearly killing him, where could they be taking him?

It only got worse when they left the grounds all together, about thirty feet past the gates Sirius and Ginny put him down as gently as they could, which wasn't saying much, and spoke for the first time.

"You sure you can do both of us?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, you're small so it shouldn't be too hard." Answered Sirius.

"You better be sure, I don't want to get splinched, and somehow I think Harry would kill you, though whether for splinching me or splinching him I don't know."

Where could they be going that they would need to Apparate? And it was obviously something important if they were risking getting splinched. Dual Apparition was hard enough, but triple? Ginny was right, Harry was going to kill Sirius if he messed this up. Harry prayed to every deity that he had ever heard of as Sirius took hold of his and Ginny's arms. Harry felt the slightly familiar squeeze of Apparition, and gritted his teeth as he landed a little hard. He didn't feel splinched, and he imagined that having limbs detached would hurt, or at least be accompanied by some sort of sensation.

He risked opening an eye to check visually, and saw everything that he should see, and heard no complaints from Ginny or Sirius, so he assumed that it had gone off without a hitch, or a splinch. Sirius and Ginny picked him back up, and resumed carrying him. He thought the pathway's direction seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it, the only thing he knew for sure was that they weren't at The Burrow.

When they stopped Harry knew exactly where they were; his suspicions were confirmed when Sirius shifted his weight and grabbed his hand, pressing it against the door. Before Harry had left his house for the summer he had locked the doors, which were equipped with blood-line sensitive locks, which meant that only Harry could unlock them. They had been working on a way to make the locks respond to Sirius, but so far even Hermione had not had any luck. The door opened, and Harry was carried inside into complete darkness.

It really was a blessing, Harry would much rather be at home and confined to bed rest, which meant flying everyday, than at Hogwarts and actually confined to bed rest, which meant what it was. He could have a lot of fun at home, and the best part was that there was no way that Ginny would be leaving his side until he was healthy again, even her mother knew better than to try. They managed to get him up the stairs without dropping him or knocking into anything, which Harry thought was a miracle. Sirius left, but Ginny stayed and tucked him in, running her hands through his hair, and lightly kissed him before leaving. She didn't see the smile on his face as she did so, and Harry returned to sleep soon after she left.

When Harry awoke the next morning, he was indeed in his own room, and thoroughly glad that last night had not been a dream. He knew that classes at school were canceled for a week while the Ministry helped Dumbledore clean up, sorted through the Death Eaters that hadn't got away, and put Draco Malfoy on trial, which meant that Harry was going to spend a school week, and a weekend at home, with his girlfriend, and extremely irresponsible godfather. It was good to be Harry Potter at the moment.

Harry showered and dressed, then decided to sneak downstairs and surprise Sirius and Ginny, who doubtless thought that they had been very clever in their successful kidnapping, this was going to be fun. They were both in the kitchen, Ginny trying her hand at cooking breakfast, and Sirius teasingly criticizing her every action. Harry stood in the doorway, watching, trying to decide if it was comforting or disturbing to think that Ginny would make an excellent addition to his family, he was only fifteen after all.

He snapped out of his thoughts and walked into the kitchen, sitting down next to his godfather, and picking up the section of the Prophet that reported on the Quidditch Matches.

"'Morning Sirius." He remarked casually.

"Good Morning Harry." Said Sirius absently, before doing a double take.

"Harry! What the hell? Why aren't you freaking out because you woke up in a completely different place than you fell asleep in?" asked Sirius, clearly offended that his prank had not had the desired effect.

"Because you two," he pointed at both of them "royally suck at kidnapping people. If you made anymore noise last night you would've woken the whole castle up. I was awake and watching the whole time. By the way Ginny, I would have been angrier about Sirius splinching you than him splinching me."

Sirius and Ginny just stared at him, dumbfounded. Harry turned back to the paper, knowing that it was going to take a few minutes for speech to resume.

"Why cant you sleep as deep as James did? We used to carry him around all over the place, and he never woke up, why I remember one time, in our forth year, he woke up on the teachers table in the Great Hall, and thought he was still in the dorm, but I'll tell you about that later."

Harry knew that Sirius would be planning revenge for being foiled, but he really didn't care, it was well worth it.

"What do you mean I royally suck at kidnapping? Like you're much better?" asked Ginny indignantly, hands on hips.

"Yes I am, and I have much more experience with It than you do, now hurry up with my breakfast, I'd like two eggs, over easy, bacon, toast, and orange juice. Mind you don't burn anything."

Sirius was silently laughing behind that paper, while Ginny was steadily turning redder and redder. When her face nearly matched her hair, which was saying something, she leant over until her face was very, very close to Harry's and spoke in a menacing whisper.

"Harry James Potter, if you ever treat me like a waitress again, not only will I kill you, but I'll break up with you after. Do you understand me?"

Harry smiled cheekily at her before responding.

"Nope." And he kissed her before she had a chance to explode on him. It took a few seconds, but if there was one thing that stopped Ginny from exploding, it was being kissed, not that anyone besides Harry knew this, and rightly so. Ginny sighed as Harry broke the kiss and returned to the paper, some things were better than cooking, and kissing Harry was definitely one of them.

"Hurry with the eggs dear." Said Harry under his breath, earning him a light smack to the back of the head.

Ginny ending up making scrambled eggs, with cheese in them, and sausages, but Harry didn't really care. The three ate heartily, especially Harry, who was starving after a day of Hospital Wing food. Harry filled Ginny in on the latest Quidditch scores, and Ginny teased him relentlessly about being on the Top Twenty-Five Most Handsome Seekers List, even though he didn't play professionally. Harry responded by telling her that he was going to write to the editor, and ask them to put Ginny on the Top Twenty-Five Most Beautiful Quidditch Wives List.

"You know that for that to happen, you would have to actually marry Ginny right?" asked Sirius.

"So?" responded Harry, causing Ginny to beam at him.

"I guess we'll have to go into London then, we'll need to get a ring." Sirius had been trying to embarrass Harry, and it had really been a cheep-shot, given the serious topic he had hinted at, and Harry kicked him soundly under the table for it, while he laughed with Ginny. He only hoped that she would still be this happy when he went through with his plan.

"Do we have anything to do today?" asked Harry.

"Nope, not really, I need to pick up the muggle grill that you insisted we get, but I can take care of that no problem, now cooking on it, that's another story."

"You can't cook anyway Sirius." Said Ginny.

"Hey, I will have you know that I a certified master of the grilling arts." Replied Sirius.

"How do you figure that one? You didn't even know what a grill was until a few weeks ago." Asked Ginny.

"It's a guy thing, kind of like how women are just naturally good at cleaning and doing laundry." Said Sirius with a wink at Harry, earning both of them a smack to the back of the head.

"Hey what did I do?" asked Harry while he rubbed his head.

"Like he said, it's a guy thing." Replied Ginny impishly.

Sirius ran off to get his new grill, leaving Harry to fend for himself against his slightly put-out girlfriend. As soon as Harry's ears caught the sound of Sirius Dissaperating, he braced himself for the yelling, but found himself being kissed instead. After a breathless minute, they separated, Ginny grinning at him.

"You set that whole thing up to get rid of Sirius?" asked Harry knowingly.

Ginny nodded vigorously, making her hair swish around her face, which she knew Harry loved.

"Have i told you lately that I love you?" asked Harry.

Ginny nodded even more exaggeratedly, driving Harry nuts, so he kissed her again, and this time it was more like five minutes before they separated.

"You know you could've just told him you wanted him to leave so that we could snog?" asked Harry.

"Where would have been the fun in that? And besides, I wouldn't have got to hit you both." Answered Ginny.

"Figures." Said Harry, before kissing his girlfriend again.

Sirius, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. He had Apparated to a muggle town to go buy a grill, ever since Harry had told him about the meat-cooking device he had been desperate to get one of his own. Now that Harry was home it was the perfect chance, as his godson could show him how to use it, and hopefully teach him to cook, Ginny had been right in that respect.

The muggle store, which was for some reason called 'K-Mart', what a crazy name, was packed to the brim with shopping muggles. It seemed to be something of a tradition for muggles to take their entire family shopping, and buy a ton of things that they probably would never need. Sirius managed to find his way to the outdoors section, after stopping a few times to admire things he saw, and started looking at the various grills for sale. The only problem was that Sirius didn't know a thing about grills.

"Can I help you with something sir?" asked a young looking kid.

He was wearing a vest with the store's crazy name on it, so Sirius assumed that he worked here.

"Yes, I want to buy a grill, but I'm afraid I don't know anything about them, and I could use a little help."

"Well I can help with that, why don't you just come over here and I'll show you our selection…"

Twenty minutes, and one surprisingly large purchase later, Sirius was insisting that he didn't need any help carrying that box to his car, which didn't exist. He carried it out to the far corner of the parking lot, cursing the fact that he had to carry the damn thing. He covertly cast a Feather-Weight Charm on it, and Dissaperated as soon as he could.

"OY! You two! Get off each other's faces!"

Harry groaned in frustration as Ginny's lips were separated from his, why did someone always have to interrupt them? He opened his eyes to see Ginny pulling her shirt back down and groaned again. He turned his head and saw his grinning godfather carrying a large box.

"You know what Sirius? Your fired, go tell Remus he's my godfather now, maybe he'll give me some damn privacy."

"Actually Remus is a bit more like Hermione than I am, so you would probably have to sneak around a lot more than you do, unless it was the full moon, which I'm always gone for anyway. Besides, I was gone for a half an hour or so anyway."

"Not the point Sirius," said Ginny "I'm tired of being interrupted just when things get good."

"Way too much information!" shouted Sirius "I do not need to hear things like that, or I might forget about my promise to you to break my promise to Molly and let you do whatever you want. Somehow that all works out with me telling your mother what you two get up to together, now stop complaining and help me put the darn thing together."

That effectively shut the young couple up, at least until they unpacked the new grill and tried to assemble it. A half an hour after they had started, they still hadn't figured out anything. They thought they knew which pieces were they legs, but they weren't completely sure. Sirius in particular was very frustrated, since he was, as he put it, "Certified in the Grilling Arts". Plus Ginny was teasing him to no end.

Once it started to get dark Sirius folded and flood Mr. Weasley for help. It took the balding man all of ten minutes to put everything together, much to the other three's shock and embarrassment. Mr. Weasley just shrugged it off, saying that putting muggle things together was easy, as long as you didn't expect anything to make sense. Harry and Sirius both thought this was very odd advice, but both chose not to comment.

"Well its getting dark, so why don't we go inside and let Ginny cook us dinner?" suggested Sirius.

"Don't you mean beg me to?" asked Ginny.

"No I mean let you, Harry and I are the two most famous and good looking wizards in the country, we could easily have attractive young witches lining up for the privilege of cooking us dinner, but for some strange reason Harry seems to like you, so you get to do it every night, now feel honored and cook something."

Sirius was promptly rolling on the ground, trying the escape the flying bogey's that were attacking him. Ginny was famous for that hex, and Harry still hadn't worked out the counter-curse. Ginny of course let Sirius suffer for over five minutes, while Harry tried to hold in his laughter. Once Ginny had taken the Hex off of Sirius, he turned accusingly towards Harry.

"Traitor!" he accused.

"Am not, I just know better than to go against my girlfriend, something you clearly need to learn." Answered Harry.

"I don't even have a girlfriend to go against." Whined Sirius.

"No I mean that you need to learn not to go against my girlfriend." Said Harry.

Ginny was beaming at him again, but Sirius was still muttering something about 'traitors' and 'going to live with Moony', so Harry assumed his reasoning wasn't good enough. They ended up having left overs for dinner, which meant that everyone took what they could find, heated it, ate it, and then went looking for more.

"Harry, I'm still hungry." Complained Ginny.

"Well Sirius and I gave you the chance to cook didn't we? But no, you have to be all high and mighty, telling us to fend for ourselves, and now look where we all are, hungry!"

"Harry, are you really blaming me for not cooking dinner?" asked Ginny.

"No." said Harry, before kissing her.

"You know all of this flirting is really starting to upset me." Commented Sirius, whom they had forgotten was in the room.

"Then get your own girl Sirius." Said Ginny.

Sirius took offense at that, and left the room, saying he was going to bed, and muttering something about 'evil witches Imperiusing Harry to go out with them so they could make his life hell', or something like that.

"I did not Imperious Harry just to make your life hell Sirius!" Ginny shouted up the stairs "I did it because he has such a cute butt!"

Harry felt his cheeks colour in embarrassment at about the same time he heard a crash from upstairs, indicating that Sirius had lost his footing and tripped, not that anyone could blame him. Ginny turned to sit in Harry's lap, giggling at the blush in his cheeks.

"Oh poor Harry, did I embarrass you?" teased Ginny.

"Yes you did, but speaking of cute butts…" Harry gave Ginny's a squeeze before kissing her soundly, effectively ending all conversation for the rest of the night.

Harry awoke the next day, stiff and sore, the reason why became apparent when he noticed that he was in his living room, not his bedroom, and he was on the couch, and not in his bed. That explained why he was stiff, sleeping on a couch always did that to him, and the sleeping redhead curled up on top of him accounted for the soreness.

"Say 'cheese'!" shouted Sirius' voice.

A very bright light, temperately blinded Harry, and woke Ginny. When Harry's sight returned he saw an angry Ginny, who was glaring at a gleeful Sirius. Harry was wondering why Sirius was so happy, and why Ginny was so angry, when he saw the camera in Sirius' hands, he now had blackmail on them for life. Harry groaned and rolled out from under Ginny, stretching his stiff and sore muscles, and glaring at a still laughing Sirius. Sirius only laughed harder and threw a Prophet at Harry. Harry looked down to see his own face sharing the front page with a picture of Donaldson. Harry flipped open the page and started to read.

**You-Know-Who Invades Hogwarts!**

Day saved yet again by Harry Potter!

_Daily Prophet reporter Richard Fetchly, currently attached to the Auror Division as Senior War Correspondent, reports to us on the attack against Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by You-Know-Who and approximately sixty Death Eaters. Fetchly reports that the Death Eaters were able to infiltrate the school, only after Albus Dumbledore had been lured out to attend a funeral, along with all of his senior teachers, and the help of fifth year Slytherin Draco Malfoy, who is currently being question by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. _

_You-Know-Who himself then entered the castle, confining all of the students to the Great Hall, and proceeded to pick out the children and relatives of those who have defied him in the past. Out of respect for their courage and their families, their names will not be printed. _

_Professor Dumbledore, who was at the time of the attack attending a personal funeral with Harry Potter, soon called together a group of his trusted friends and, with the help of twenty of the Ministry's own Aurors, launched an attack to re-take the school. The most interesting bit of news stems from the fact that it was not Professor Dumbledore who led the attack, nor was it any Auror, or even the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Sirius Black, it was the youngest member of the assembled, Harry Potter._

_Mr. Potter is reported to have fired the first Curses after yelling at the Headmaster to "shut up and help". Mr. Potter met up with Auror First Class Donaldson, who was leading the Auror Contingent, on the field, and together the two entered the school and challenged You-Know-Who. Exact details of the fight remain sketchy at best, but it is known that it was Harry Potter, and not Auror First Class Donaldson who succeeded in taking You-Know-Who out of the fight. _

_Very little information is available on the subject, as it is still a matter under investigation by the DMLE, however there is talk that because the incident received international attention, that we may soon be receiving aid in the struggle against You-Know-Who, namely, the American Magical Combat Force. _

_Harry Potter and Auror First Class Donaldson were unavailable for comment, but we are sure that we speak for all of our readers when we thank these two gentlemen from the bottoms of our hearts for their valiant efforts. _

Harry threw down the Daily Prophet, relieved that nothing too emotional had been included, and a little upset that he was going to be even more famous for this. As if he didn't get enough pointing and staring, now the entire country knew that he won a duel against Voldemort, over the efforts of a star Auror no less. It didn't matter that he'd gotten entirely lucky, or that Donaldson had all but given his life so that Harry could fire that Hex, no one knew, or cared about that.

Ginny and Sirius had expected that the front page article would put Harry in a foul mood for the rest of the day at least, but much to their surprise it barely lasted through breakfast. By the time they had all gone out to the yard Harry was in a perfectly normal mood, although slightly more cheerful then usual. Sirius attributed the cheerfulness to the very low-cut sun dress that Ginny was wearing. Ginny agreed with him, because she had worn that dress with exactly this result in mind.

"So what shall we do today kids? Or would you like me to disappear for a while?" asked Sirius.

"Well as temping as that is," said Harry "I think get a pool."

"A pool?" asked Sirius.

"A Pool?" asked Ginny at the same time.

"Yeah you know, big blue thing filled with water, you jump into it, swim, horseplay, that kind of stuff."

"Where are we going to get a pool?" asked Sirius.

"Well Sirius you see, we have this little thing called 'Magic', and with this 'Magic' we can do a lot of really cool stuff, without too much effort, for example-"

Sirius cut him off before he could finish.

"Alright smart ass, I get the picture, I'll see what I can do, here hold this for me."

Sirius handed Harry his hat, which Harry took cursing mentally as he felt the familiar tug behind his navel. Damn Port-keys.

Ginny was all set to panic when Harry vanished, but then she saw the smirk on Sirius' face.

"Sirius, what did you do?" she asked dangerously.

"Would you like to watch?" asked Sirius, far too innocently.

"Of course." Answered Ginny with a mischievous glint in her eye.

Sirius took out another Port-Key, and the two appeared in the back of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, where Harry was up by the teacher's table, the attention of the entire Hall on him. Only about a quarter of the students had left for the week, and they were mostly the younger ones, so there were a lot of people watching, most of which Harry knew. Ginny struggled to control her laughter when she heard the rock music start playing, it was a song she had heard at Harry's house over the summer. She went from laughter to hysterical laughter when Harry started to sing.

Girl, you really got me now

You got me so I don't know what I'm doin'

Girl, you really got me now

You got me so I cant sleep at night

Girl, you really got me now

You got me so I don't know where I'm goin', yeah

Ginny wasn't sure if she should be proud, flattered, embarrassed, or mad at Sirius. All seemed like good options as Harry was singing to her, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was singing to her, exactly as Sirius had planned. The godfather in question was literally rolling on the floor, laughing so hard it should be illegal.

Oh girl, you really got me now

You got me so I cant sleep at night

You really got me

You really got me

You really got me

Please, don't ever let me be

I only wanna be by your side

Please, don't ever let me be

I only wanna be by your side

Girl, you really got me now, 

You got me so I don't know what I'm doin', yeah

Ginny had decided to be flattered. Harry didn't even look embarrassed anymore, in fact, if she didn't know any better, she would think he was enjoying this as much as she was.

Oh yeah, you really got me now

Got me so I cant sleep at night

You really got me

You really got me

You really got me

The song ended to thunderous and hysterical laughter from everyone in the Great Hall, but mostly from Ginny and Sirius. Harry was blushing again, as he made his way quickly out of the Hall, glaring at Sirius, who needed to be held up, he was laughing so hard. Ginny was hardly any better, that had been the funniest thing she had ever seen, and it was even better given that the song that he had sung was kind of funny and romantic.

Several long, laughter-filled minutes later, Ginny and Sirius were laughing, along with most of the Great Hall, teachers included. They were lucid enough, however, to go after Harry, Ginny wanting to take some pity on him, and Sirius wanting to begin the endless amount of teasing that he had planned for his post-prank godson. They found Harry, still blushing, pacing impatiently in the Entrance Hall, though he stopped when he saw them.

"About time. No talking. Sirius take us home, we'll talk about this there."

Ginny and Sirius instantly sobered up, and neither even gave a thought to disobeying him, instead heading out towards the grounds. Ginny walked next to Harry, hand in hand, though he refused to look anywhere other than steadfastly forward. The distinct POP! Of Apparition was the only sound until they arrived at Potter Place. Then things got interesting.

Harry fell almost immediately to the ground, laughing harder than either Ginny or Sirius had been earlier. This of course left the two dumbfounded, as they had no idea why Harry was laughing, he should have been angry or embarrassed, not amused.

"Harry what the hell?" asked an indignant Sirius, and not for the first time.

"Yeah whats up Harry? Shouldn't you be mad or something?" asked Ginny.

"How could I be mad about such a great prank? Seriously Sirius, that was seriously amazing." Harry broke into fresh gales of laughter, mostly due to his own, bad, joke.

Ginny soon joined him, even going so far as to join him on the ground, at which point Sirius left, not wanting to see anything that would make him feel guilty around the Weasley family. He could always talk to Harry later, there was no need to risk his safety.

"Ginny keep your shirt on until I'm gone!" he fairly screamed, he was getting too old for this.

Sirius left them alone for the rest of the afternoon, although he did get an explanation from Harry, apparently the Marauder genes had carried to him rather well. Harry had known about the prank all along, and let it happen, though that explained why the dance routine that Sirius originally planned hadn't worked. That was true Marauder fashion, allowing himself to be pranked, with the end result being hours of alone time with his girlfriend. True Marauder fashion indeed.

For dinner that night Sirius finally got to try his new barbecue, and proved his skill by burning everything that he touched to a crisp. In the end, Harry ended up cooking for himself and Ginny, Sirius preferred to eat his own cooking, proclaiming it to be gourmet, and gagging at the same time. After dinner Sirius went inside to find a cookbook, and study hard, while Harry and Ginny stayed in the back yard, watching the sunset in each others arms, and listening to the faint music in the background. Ginny was just enjoying Harry, and the view, but Harry got to thinking, his mind raised by the song on the radio.

**Sometimes late at night**

**I lie awake and watch her sleeping**

**Shes lost in peaceful dreams**

**So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark**

**And the thought crosses my mind**

**If I never wake up in the morning**

**Would she ever doubt the way I feel**

**About her in my heart**

**So tell that someone that you love**

**Just what your thinking of**

**If tomorrow never comes**

Harry was thinking that with the way his life was, one day maybe tomorrow wouldn't come. He was involved more than he knew in the second war, and he wanted Ginny to know how much he loved her, especially if something happened.

**If tomorrow never comes**

**Will she know how much I loved her**

**Did I try in every way to show her every day**

**That shes my only one**

**And if my time on earth were through**

**And she must face the world without me**

**Is the love I gave her in the past**

**Gonna be enough to last**

**If tomorrow never comes**

**cause Ive lost loved ones in my life**

**Who never knew how much I loved them**

**Now I live with the regret**

**That my true feelings for them never were revealed**

**So I made a promise to myself**

**To say each day how much she means to me**

**And avoid that circumstance**

**Where theres no second chance to tell her how I feel**

**So tell that someone that you love**

**Just what your thinking of**

**If tomorrow never comes**

"Ginny?"

"Umm?"

"I've been thinking, with everything that's been happening… you know that I love you right?"

There was a brief silence while Ginny thought. Harry was worried that maybe that wasn't what she wanted to hear, because she didn't love him back, but he needn't have worried.

"And you know that I love you back, right Harry?"

"I know, I just, I started thinking, because of the song, if something happens to me, I want to make sure you know how much I love you."

"Harry what would possibly happen to you?" asked Ginny.

Harry didn't answer, just hugged her tighter.

**A/N Longest chapter yet! 5500 words for your reading pleasure. Sorry about the wait, getting into college is a pain. I expect lots of reviews. Sorry about the lack of updates, like I said, it should pick back up in June, sorry.**

**The WoLf At BaY**


	25. Interlude

"_The men and women of the United States Armed Forces, and government agencies shall deal out justice, and it shall be swift, brutal, and righteous." – Pro-War Rally, September 15__th__, 2001_

**The Wolf At Bay, Leigh, and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 25:**

**Interlude**

**Closed Death Eater Trial for Fifteen Year Old!**

_The wizarding world is holding its breath today, as fifteen-year-old Draco Malfoy becomes the youngest person ever to receive a closed trial. These trials are specially reserved for known Death Eaters, as they often involve the use of Veritaserum, and infringement of human rights. Draco Malfoy is the only known suspect in the deaths of two young ladies attending Hogwarts, Hannah Abbott, 15, and Susan Bones, also 15. Eyewitnesses have testified that the two girls were killed personally by You-Know-Who, who only managed to infiltrate Hogwarts with the aid of Draco Malfoy, therefore he is being charged with their deaths, as well being a Death Eater, and sedition._

_Madame Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, announced earlier this morning that Malfoy would be receiving a closed trial, due to the severity of his crimes, and the sensitivity of the information being used to convict him. It has been noted, and also disregarded, that Madame Bones is the maternal aunt of the late Susan Bones, one of the murder victims Mr. Malfoy is being charged for. However multiple sources have expressed their confidence that Madame Bones will not allow any personal animosity to interfere with her application of the law. _

Madame Bones didn't need to let her personal feelings get in the way anyway, they had more than enough evidence to sentence Draco Malfoy, and they could probably get him The Kiss without too much effort. And she fully intended to try.

"Quite down everyone, and please take your seats. On the morning of September the 29th, the Wizengamot convenes, in closed session, for the trial of one Draco Abraxas Malfoy. Is the accused present?"

"The accused is present Madame." Spoke the Malfoy family attorney.

"Then let the charges be stated." Madame Bones nodded to the court scribe.

"The charges are as follows: terrorism against the population of British Wizards, aiding and abetting, willfully, a known mass-murderer, and two counts of murder in the first degree, two counts of torture in the first degree, four counts of using an Unforgivable on another human being, one count of sedition in the first degree, and one count of attempted rape, in the first degree."

"How does the accused plead?" asked Madame Bones after the charges had been read.

"Not guilty." Answered the attorney.

"By what providence?" asked Madame Bones.

"Lack of evidence on the part of the prosecution, and discrimination against pure-bloods."

"Mr. Caldwash, that is one of the most outrageous things I have ever heard, know that an investigation into your possible misconduct will be launched following today's hearing. Miss. Cabot, you may begin your argument."

Cabot was the attorney representing the Ministry, and therefore, the people. She was young, but she was good, and had a nearly perfect record for trying Death Eaters.

Two long hours later all of the evidence had been heard. It had seemed very damning at the beginning, until Caldwash had managed to find something wrong with nearly all of it. The main problem was that teenagers who were clearly still in shock, hardly the most reliable witnesses, had provided most of the evidence. Even the testimony of Auror First Class Donaldson, who had been released from St. Mungo's for the day was sketchy at best.

"The defense calls for a dismissal, based on false accusation and lack of evidence." Said Caldwash.

"Very well, does anyone wish to contend?" any member of the court could contend a motion to dismiss, and Cabot quickly did so.

"Motion denied, the Wizengamot will now confer."

Forty-five minutes later, they were still debating what should have been an open and shut case. There were just too many members who were not willing to sentence a kid to Azkaban without overwhelming evidence. And not enough who were, no matter how damning the evidence was.

It was then that Cabot saved the day, or the trial anyway.

"Madame Bones, the people would like to drop our motion for a life sentence."

Amelia looked at her like she had just grown two heads, but she nodded calmly, and winked.

"Very well, motion for a life sentence is repealed."

"Madame the people move to sentence the accused to The Kiss."

There were gasps throughout the courtroom; the last time someone had been sentenced to the kiss had been fifteen years ago, when Barty Crouch was turning the Ministry into a dictatorship.

"Based on what evidence?" demanded Caldwash.

"Based on a security devise, from the castle of Hogwarts, which conclusively proves the charges of torture, use of the Unforgivables, and attempted rape, and strongly suggests the accuracy of the other charges."

"Present your evidence." Said Madame bones, now very interested herself.

The device worked much like a pensieve, recording what it saw, and playing it back; which meant that they had a clear and undeniable picture of everything that had happened in the Great Hall that day.

This time it only took the Wizengamot five minutes.

"Mr. Malfoy, this court finds you guilty of all charges, you are hereby sentenced to receive the Dementor's kiss, at our earliest convenience, may God have mercy on your soul.

**Fifteen Year Old To Be Kissed!**

_It was announced earlier today, that after a five-hour trial, Draco Malfoy, 15, would be receiving the Dementor's Kiss. He was tried and convicted of terrorism, murder, attempted rape, sedition, and using Unforgivables. The Wizengamot, in a rare moment of unity, voted unanimously to sentence the young Death Eater._

**Other Fifteen Year Old Being Kissed!**

_Harry Potter, 15, and largely responsible for today's trial, has thus far been unavailable for comment, and we've found out why. It seems that young Mr. Potter is spending the week at his home, with his Godfather, Sirius Black, and girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, 14. It is come to our attention that Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley are very, very close, and in fact, there were earlier reports of a pregnancy. While these rumors were confirmed as false, we must wonder exactly what Mr. Potter is up to that makes him unavailable to attend the trial of a Death Eater he helped arrest. _

Madame Bones was in her office, enjoying a cold drink after a long trial, with Kingsly, Tonks, and Percy Weasley.

"How exactly did a charge of attempted rape get into the trial, and why was there no testimony given, or any evidence presented?" asked Madame Bones.

"Well it's a bit of a delicate situation." Said Kingsly.

"And why is that?"

"Because the victim is just as unavailable as Harry is, and I doubt we could get him to let her testify anyway, especially after some of the articles Skeeter's been writing about her."

"Ginny Weasley?!" asked a shocked Madame Bones.

"Yep, thank Merlin that Harry got there first, I shudder to think…" Percy trailed off, his face twisting with rage.

"Yes, thank Merlin for a lot of things that Harry has done. When is Malfoy being kissed?"

"Day after tomorrow, we have to give him some time to file for appeal." Answered Madame Bones.

"Not soon enough for me." Said Percy.

"So how are you going to get Harry to take the medal? Rumor has it, and I would know, that he doesn't take to his fame too well." Said Percy.

"I'm going to have your sister do it for me." Said Madame Bones.

"And that is probably the only good way to get Harry to do something he doesn't want to. That's another record right? For youngest recipient of an Order of Merlin?" asked Kingsly.

"Yes, the previous record was twenty-something."

"Now what are we going to do about Rita Skeeter? Surely there's some kind of libel or slander law we can use?"

The four continued to converse, trying to come up with ways to silence Rita Skeeter, and whether or not Harry would be the next Dumbledore.

**A/N—I know, I know, it's way too short, but I had to get Draco's trial done, as well as a few newspaper articles, and I didn't want it interfering with any fluff. I did throw in the bit about Harry and Ginny having disappeared together though, so be happy. I promise that I'm not shortening my chapters, just this one. **


	26. FUBAR

"_I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin', maybe six feet ain't so far down." – Creed, One Last Breath_

**The Wolf At Bay, Leigh, and Freckles, Proudly Present Chapter 26:**

**FUBAR**

Harry awoke with a bright sun shining in his eyes, which was odd, and the distinct sound of a camera flash going off repeatedly, which was even odder. His bedroom windows didn't face anywhere even close to east, and his door was charmed to wake him if anyone was opening the door, so what was going on? And it really didn't feel like he was in his bed, which was a lot softer than this, and he wasn't normally so stiff and sore…

Harry groaned in realization, as everything clicked, including the camera that Sirius was obviously using to take more blackmail photos of him and Ginny asleep in each others arms. Harry tried moving to confirm, and once again found that he couldn't, due to the very pretty redhead with a death grip on him. It was, in retrospect, not a bad way to wake up, if Sirius wasn't there that was. With his godfather present, Harry found the experience to be very vexing.

"You know Paddy, with all that blackmail, you'll eventually have to actually blackmail me." Said Harry.

"I know, I'm saving up for when you become a highly influential member of society." Answered Sirius.

"Oh. Why?" asked Harry.

"I'm thinking of running for Minister one day, though I'm still not sure why, I mean between the two of us we probably have more power than the Minister right now."

"Go away Paddy, let me get five more minutes while you plan world domination." Said Harry, Ginny nodding in agreement.

"Yeah sure, I'll start breakfast."

This got the two teens attentions, as they both raced to make it to the kitchen before Sirius could destroy anything, like the house. Sirius was bad with a stove; Voldemort with a wand was less likely to get you killed.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

At around the same time that Sirius woke up Harry and Ginny, or 9:30 in the morning for the rest of Britain, a contingent from the American Magical Combat Force was arriving at the Ministry for a special 

meeting with Fudge and Dumbledore about aid for the Aurors and The Order of the Phoenix. The theoretical model called for one hundred and fifty of the best trained witches and wizards from America to be matched with Aurors and senior Order members, ready to deploy with their American counter-parts in tow. This would effectively double the Anti-Voldemort combat power, without having to reroute intelligence channels.

The leader of the AMCF delegations was a very dangerous looking man, who only identified himself as The General. The General was a large man, maybe six and a half feet tall, and well over two hundred pounds, none of which would be fat. He had extremely short grey hair, and bright blue eyes that seemed to see everything at once. Even Dumbledore was wary of The General, who was as magically competent as he was physically intimidating.

The General had two other officers from his direct command with him, the rest were experts and consultants from other branches. Major Harris and Colonial Bonderenko were both of a similar mold from their commander, both physically dominating, and both magically powerful. It was easy to tell that the three field officers were the lions in the room, and everyone else was the potential gazelle. Dumbledore had distinctly noticed all three men sizing him up immediately upon meeting him, and they were arrayed in a semi-circle in front of him, ready to attack should the need arise.

Negotiations were stereotypically boring, even the theoretical combat doctrines didn't hold much interest for anyone, and after over two hours, the only conclusion that had been reached was that everyone needed a lunch break. There had been a special cafeteria set up to service the negotiations teams from both sides, the theory being that they could probably get more done over an un-interrupted lunch than in a stuffy conference room.

Cornelius and the rest of the Ministry drones all chose to eat together, effectively ignoring the implied theory. Dumbledore, on the other hand, chose to sit down with the General and his men, and from that lunch he gleaned more information than from the entire morning. The two hours in conference had been dominated by a briefing on current conditions for the benefit of the Americans. When asked how they felt about the situation in general, it was Major Harris who answered.

"Excuse me, I don't think I heard that right." Said Dumbledore.

"No, you heard right, I said FUBAR, it's a little known technical term, an anagram actually, stands for Fucked Up Beyond All Repair, see, first letter of each word, and a very accurate description of the British theater of operations. Don't you people have any kind of a service force?"

"No, we rely on the Aurors to maintain the peace, we've never actually had all-out war, even during Voldemort's rise, no such action was taken, and then of course Minister Fudge was elected…"

"Yes, and we all know how, shall we say, effective, the current Minister is." Colonial Bonderanko surprised Dumbledore, the man had one of the heaviest Russian accents he had ever heard, and yet he was a ranking officer in the American Special Forces.



"We would like to start running a counter-espionage operation over here as soon as possible, we are not going to ally ourselves with the Ministry, there are far too many spies for us to accomplish anything. However we are willing to allocate some manpower on the combat side and any resources that we can spare in Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, which I think you will find to be more useful than any combat power."

"Thank you Colonial, I have always felt that information is more valuable in this war than fighting, and I'm sure that working together, we will be able to make a much more significant difference. "

The General remained completely silent throughout the agreement.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Harry and Ginny had managed to prevent Sirius from burning the house down, which was something of a feat all in itself, and then Ginny had treated the boys to pancakes that rivaled her mothers. Harry and Sirius had long since learned not to expect Ginny to do the housework, but she ended up cooking most of the time anyway, since Sirius would probably destroy the world if left in the kitchen, and she just plain liked taking care of Harry.

Sadly today was there last day of rest before they had to return to Hogwarts not that that was a particularly bad thing for any of them, just you never really could enjoy the end of a vacation. Sirius had had several owls from Dumbledore, making him aware of the progress of the negotiations, and of the back channel agreement that had been made. Sirius knew the value of good Intel, during the First War, he and Remus had set up a nice little shop within the Ministry, which had probably saved fifty or sixty lives. Unfortunately it had also cost two lives, since Peter Pettigrew had been one of the better informed stringers.

The thought of having and AMCF Intel team working for him though, was like Christmas come early. The Americans had written the book on espionage, during the Cold War they had nearly perfected it, and high ranking Ministry people were always going to the states to take courses in counter-espionage. The Russians were almost as good at it as the Americans, and Sirius had heard that the AMCF number two man was a Russian, and a highly experienced one. These men could probably make Snape look like an armature.

Sirius had told Harry and Ginny the general content of the letters, not going into detail, they didn't need to be in on everything just yet, but it was inevitable that Harry would meet the Americans at some point, and Sirius knew that Harry would get on very well with Major Harris, who had been a member of the team that he and James had once been a part of, along with Jake. Harris had been a Captain back then, and had been the second in command of their little training camp.

Harry and Ginny had finally finished using illegal under-age magic to build a pool in the backyard of Potter Place. And to say that they had gone a little overboard was probably an understatement. The pool alone was the size of Number 4, Privet Drive, then there was an extensive patio around the pool, which housed Sirius' new and improved grill, or doomsday device, depending on whether you had ever 

tasted Sirius' cooking. This was the first time that they were going to get to use it, and also the last for a while. A quick Water-Heating Charm might be fine in early October, but there was no way that it would work in December or January.

Harry was waiting by the pool in his trunks, already having tested out the spring board, Jacuzzi jets, and miniature whirlpool. When Ginny came out of the house though, all thoughts of the pool promptly left his head, and his jaw hit the floor with an audible 'thump'.

Ginny just giggled as her bikini had exactly the desired effect on her boyfriend. It had already been a little small when she bought it, and she had shrunk certain parts down even more, meaning that she was leaving very little to Harry's imagination. Then there were the charms, taught to her by Hermione's dorm-mates, which had much the same effect as a push-up bra, making her chest look at least a size bigger than it really was. The last conscious thought either of them had for the afternoon was, 'damn, it's good to be me right now'. And in both of their cases it was true.

Harry was having the time of his life, Ginny's swimsuit allowing him to explore every inch of her body that he wasn't already familiar with, and his lips hadn't been off her in nearly an hour. There was only one thing that could ruin this afternoon, and unfortunately Sirius ended up doing just that.

Harry and Ginny both came up gasping for air when they heard Sirius yelling, as they had been engaged at the mouth for a long while. While they caught their breath, they could still here Sirius yelling in the house, and, not bothering to remember how little Ginny was wearing, ran into the house, expecting Death Eaters at the very least.

What they did see was a smashed jar of Floo Powder, a nearly hysterical Sirius standing on a chair, and a very amused looking mouse. It seemed as though Sirius had been about to make a Floo call, had seen the mouse, then panicked, dropped to jar, and jumped up onto the nearest chair.

"Sirius what-" began Harry, but he was almost immediately cut-off.

"Ginervra Molly Weasley! What in the name of Merlin are you wearing?!"

All three other occupants of the room flinched hard, and turned slowly to face a screaming Mrs. Weasley. It seemed that Sirius had in face made his Floo call before the mouse showed up.


	27. SNAFU

"_You can bullshit anything for the first twenty minutes, but after that, you better know what you're talking about." – Major Jeff Coverdale, U.S. ARMY (RET)_

**The Wolf At Bay Proudly Presents Chapter Twenty Seven:**

**SNAFU**

**A/N- Man senior year sucks, so much homework, so many college Apps. It sucks people! Stay young, stay young as long as you can, for the love of god! But onto something that you all care about. I'll update as often as I can, but no promises, sorry about the summer, but I was so drunk I couldn't type anything anyway. **

Ever get that feeling that you're completely fucked? It's that little tingle at the back of your neck which tells you that something bad is about to happen. Sixth Sense, Women's Intuition, whatever you want to call it, the end result is that you, are, fucked. No two ways around it. It was the exact feeling being felt by Harry, Ginny, and Sirius as they made their way onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. They were alert, not standing too close together, looking around and over lapping their fields of vision; the hair on the backs of their necks was standing up straight.

No one else seemed to notice anything unusual, they were just getting their kids on the train, saying goodbyes, making threats about homework, and leaving. Sirius, Harry and Ginny seemed to be the only ones on guard, though they didn't know why.

"Ginny, if I ask you to get on the train as soon as possible and stay there, are you going to say yes?" asked Harry.

Ginny didn't even answer, just gave him her stubborn redhead look. Harry gulped.

"Right, I thought not, please be careful."

"Both of you be careful, and keep your heads down." Sirius warned them.

"What do you think is going to happen?" asked Harry, scanning the crowd for familiar faces.

"Dunno, but even money says it's a Death Eater attack, and better than even says that they're after you." Answered Sirius.

"Well then, no point in hiding, we're supposedly pretty good at kicking ass anyway, right professor?"

"Key word: supposedly. We've been real lucky kid, eventually it's gonna run out."

"I think we can squeeze one more day out of it, don't you?"

"Oh of course, I'm just scared of what Molly is going to do, she's mad enough at me as it is, please, please don't get hurt… and lets try to keep Ginny dressed this time."

Both teens blushed at the memory; Sirius said that his ears had been ringing for twenty minutes afterwards. Their reminiscing and jaunty banter was interrupted by the highly cliché pops of apparition, again.

"You know," commented Harry "this whole apperating in all at once thing is getting old; you'd think they'd change it up eventually."

"Not the time for jokes Harry." Warned Sirius.

"Sorry, Explodra?" the trademark Explosion Hex detonated amidst the crowd of Death Eaters, all in full regalia for some reason, sending three flying. Sirius nodded in approval before adding his own curses, while both kept an eye on Ginny. The young witch didn't know as much as Harry did, him having learned a lot from Sirius and for the Tournament, and Disarming Charms and Stunners weren't the ideal for fighting hardened killers. The Bone-Shattering Curses, Explosions Hexes, and other assorted combat spells were much better suited to the current situation.

"Back-ups here early for a change." Commented Sirius dryly.

Harry looked around, and noticed the team of six Aurors, now engaging the Death Eaters from the other side of the platform. It was the first time that the Ministry had showed any kind of competency in dealing with Death Eaters, and it almost made Harry feel like there was some hope for the magical world. Until he noticed what his momentary lapse in concentration had caused to happen.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

This was Ginny's first real experience fighting Death Eaters, she knew that Harry had done it a few times, and Sirius was very good at it. She had hoped that she could keep up with them, but it was immediately apparent that they were too far ahead of her. Weak Stunning Spells and Disarming Charms simply weren't in the same league as the other two, let alone the stream of Unforgivables being used. That's why when she heard Sirius shout that there was back-up, and saw the Aurors, she made the mistake of relaxing a little, thinking that her boyfriend, Sirius, and the Aurors could handle things without her help.

The number one rule in a combat situation is this: Don't stop shooting until everyone is dead, because the other guy won't stop until everyone's dead too.

Ginny made the mistake of ceasing fire in the middle of a combat engagement, making her an easy target for the Death Eater that grabbed her right out from under Harry's nose. She didn't even get a chance to squeak as she felt a tug somewhere behind her navel.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

The dozen Death Eaters had been easily overcome with the arrival of the Aurors, led by Nymphadora Tonks, and were under guard, awaiting transport back to the ministry. There seemed to be one missing though, and it was quite clear where he had gone, once it was noticed that Ginny was missing. In the heat of combat, under fire, it had taken several minutes for her absence to be noted, and then confirmed, and by then it was far too late.

To say that Harry was upset was an understatement, a big one. The Auror strike team was highly amused to see their commander being chewed out by a fifteen year old, even if it was Harry Potter. The boy had layed into Tonks with a fury, demanding to know what had taken them so long to get there, and why there hadn't been a security force on the platform to begin with. The boy would make an excellent operations leader in a few years.

Harry was still on scene an hour later, having been debriefed twice, and given a semi-official statement on the engagement, despite being fuming mad at the time, when Dumbledore arrived, followed closely by Bill and Charlie Weasley, and a man that Harry didn't recognize, and who Sirius was gaping at.

"That's Major Harris, he worked very closely with your father and I at one point, and he's about as sharp as they come, could give Moody a good run for his money."

Harry studied the mad closely, he was large, almost six and half feet tall, and Harry could just tell he was a dangerous man, it was the way he carried himself, he exclude power and authority, and had a predatory gleam in his eyes. He looked typically American, in black dress trousers, a blue shirt, and a black vest, all of which looked very expensive. The predatory eyes of the Major swept over the platform, taking in the chaos and partial carnage without batting an eye, but when they came to Harry, dirty, robes torn, bleeding a little, and clearly ready to kill, they widened ever so slightly in what had to be shock.

Dumbledore seemed to have noticed this as well, as he led the group over to his student, his face showing concern; Major Harris's showing curiosity, and Bill and Charlie frantically searching for their sister, who would never willingly be more than fifty feet from Harry. Dumbledore made to speak first, drawing his wand and silently fixing the large rip in Harry's robes, but he was immediately cut off by Bill.

"Harry where the bloody hell is Ginny?" asked Bill, with a hint of panic.

"Maybe you guys should sit down…"

"What is it? Is she in St. Mungo's?" asked Charlie, letting his panic show.

"She was captured during the fight. Harry has no idea where she is."

Bill and Charlie looked around for a minute, to see who had spoken, clearly never having heard Major Harris speak before.

"And just how the bloody fucking hell do you know that?" asked Harry.

"I'm an Intel expert, it's my job." Answered the major casually.

"Do not fuck with me today." Snarled Harry.

"Fine. It's obvious that she's not here, or she'd be with you, it's obvious that she's not in a hospital or you'd be with her, the only logical reason for you to be apart is because you've no idea where she is, and the only logical reason for that, is because she was captured by Death Eaters. Happy now?"

"Yes actually, it's nice to finally meet someone with a little common sense, now get off your ass and FUCKING FIND HER!" Harry bellowed the last bit, letting his rage show, and thoroughly scaring Bill and Charlie, even Professor Dumbledore and Major Harris looked concerned.

Harry had been yelling so loudly that another Auror, Tonks' second in command, came over with her wand drawn, clearly thinking that the fight had restarted.

"Everything O.K. over here?" he asked.

"Oh yes, everything's just fucking dandy, don't you have some kind of a job to be doing right now?" replied Harry sarcastically.

"Now listen here kid, I can appreciate that your upset-"the Auror never got to finish.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! If you ever patronize me like that again, I'll fucking kill you, clear?"

Even Major Harris looked surprised at the authoritative tone to Harry's voice, and even more surprised when the Auror snapped to attention and replied sharply.

"Sir, Yes sir!"

"Good, now go do something useful. Go one, get."

The Auror scampered off, and Harry could distinctly hear the laughter of the other Aurors. He turned to Major Harris.

"So, Major, tell me how you're going to find my girlfriend."

To everyone's surprise, the Major burst out laughing, and threw an arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Come on then Harry, lets get over to our Headquarters, and we'll get to work, I think we'll be needing you for the rescue Op. and maybe Sirius too."

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Ten minutes and one highly uncomfortable port-key later, Harry was being shown around an old, but homely feeling manor house, which was packed to the brim with all kinds of equipment, and about twenty of the toughest looking wizards Harry had ever seen. It was at the end of the tour that Major Harris took him to the master study, and introduced him to the command staff. A man with gold eagles on his shoulders and enough ribbons on his chest to hide his shirt spoke first.

"Report Major!"

Major Harris came smartly to attention, rendered a salute to the man, and reported.

"Sir, situation normal, all fucked up!" then dropped his salute.

"Figures." Answered the man. "Who's the kid?"

Harry answered for himself, at a discreet nudge from the major.

"Harry Potter, Sir."

The man traded looks with Major Harris, before shaking Harry's hand, and introducing himself.

"It is nice to meet you Harry, my name is Colonel Golovko, and I am the second in command, as well as head of Intelligence Operations, Major Harris is our Chief of Staff, and head of Combat Operations. Want to take him to meet the boss?"

"No," answered Major Harris "he's going to tag along for the rescue Op, don't need any REMF's chewing my tail about it."

The Colonel's eyebrows rose at this, but he said nothing, just nodded and smiled. Major Harris directed Harry out of the room, following closely. They were almost at the door when the Colonel spoke again.

"Give me four hour's and then you can go get her."

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

"You'll never guess who just arrived." Golovko said to his commander five minutes later.

"Harry fucking Potter." Answered the General.

"How do you do that sir?" asked Golovko.

"If it was anyone else on our side, you wouldn't have said it like that, and if it was Voldemort, you'd be bringing me his head on a plate or he'd be bringing me yours. Everything going to plan then?"

"Yes sir, Major Harris is taking the boy down to Ops, getting him ready to go in as 'a special tactical consultant' meaning he has permission to kill."

"Gotta love those 3rd SOG kids don't you?"

"I was MAC V myself sir, we were in a bit of competition."

"My Shadow boys would have ghosted both of you anyway, so it don't matter much."

"You know, you still have yet to prove that Shadow Company even existed."

"That's the point Colonel, and no one will be ever be able to prove that I exist either, and if you don't exist, you can hardly die."


	28. Siwft, Silent, Deadly

"_Swift, Silent, Deadly." – 3__rd__ Special Forces Group, formerly the 3__rd__ SOG and MAC V_

**The Special Forces community is a highly exclusive one, comprised of the very best and brightest soldiers our country can train. Young men willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our safety and freedom. Heroes, manning the front lines 24/7, celebrated when they win, erased when they loose. Our government maintains a practice of fully denying illegal operations across the globe. United States Marine Force Recon, NAVY SEALS, ARMY RANGERS, DELTA FORCE, RED BERRETS… They get sent on illegal operations, ones that never exist, on paper, or in minds, when they don't come back, their families are lied to about their deaths, and denied the customary reparations. Our best and brightest are being fucked over when they die, reported as accidents in training exercises. Do not let this continue, speak out, and help support Special Forces Soldiers. Hoo-Ahh!**

**Now on with the show…**

The American Intelligence community, when it works, is an amazing thing, it can be precise, accurate, efficient, and deadly. With the right people, the right motivation, and the right capabilities, you can know almost anything, and if you can know anything, you can do anything. People make a fundamental mistake when planning operations. They think that it's about firepower, or supplies, this is incorrect. War, or anything else for that matter, is about information, if you know where your enemy is, what he has, and where he's heading, you can do almost anything. A squad can stop a company (8-150) with the right information, and a few crew-served weapons. This is why so much time, effort, and manpower has been invested in intelligence-gathering.

The Cold War was arguably the most effective for the world, in terms of lessons learned. It took almost fifty years of mutual hatred and paranoia for governments to realize that it isn't about how many people you can kill at once, it's about knowing what the other guy can do, and not letting him know what you can do. Always play to your strengths, and his weaknesses. This is the reason that WWII was so disastrous, as well as the Vietnam War, instead of studying our enemy, and adapting to his tactics, we tried to mimic them, don't ever play your enemies game, make him play yours.

Harry was in the designated operations room at the American's headquarters. It was, fittingly, the kitchen, and the seven men and two women were taking advantage of this to cook themselves lunch, mostly quick fixes, that smelled bad and tasted worse. When Harry had first met Alpha Team, as they were called, he made the mistake of continuing his panic-driven ranting; Alpha Team's leader had nearly beaten that out of him. Gunnery Sergeant Crisp, USMC Retired, was not a man to suffer emotion, nor to feel them. He had immediately demanded that Harry spar with Diggs, the teams hand-to-hand specialist. Needless to say, Harry felt as though he'd just lost a fight with the Hogwarts Express.

Sulky/angry teenager attitude gone, Diggs had quickly taught Harry a few basic moves, and informed him that he was useless at hand-to-hand fighting, and about fifty pounds under-weight if he ever wanted to get good at it. He did have one thing going for him, and that was his speed and natural reflexes, Diggs had spent ten minutes helping Harry with moving quickly, and he showed some promise at it. Crisp had watched this with a small smile on his face, which Diggs told Harry was typical for the Gunny when he was watching the fresh meat get tuned up. Diggs was the youngest and newest member of the team.

"You're actually lucky, when I first joined, I had to fight the Gunny, and he's not as nice as I am."

"You call that nice?" asked Harry.

"You ain't got any broken bones, not even bleeding, I spent my first week with this unit in the Battalion Aid Station, recovering."

"What's the deal with you guys anyway, what do you do?" asked Harry.

"Most of the time we do anti-terror stuff, when some whacko gets a little too unfriendly, we go in and ghost him, and when someone finds the corpse, it looks for all the world like a heart-attack or a stroke."

"You use the Killing Curse?!" Harry almost yelled.

"Yep, war sucks kid, get used to it."

"Enough!" barked Crisp. "We just got a spin-up."

The was an immediate flurry of activity, as every member of the team got up and started packing rucksacks, loading up on bandages, and a lot of things that Harry couldn't identify by name, but recognized as muggle weaponry.

"What's a 'spin-up'?" asked Harry.

"It means that the General gave us the order to get ready for an Op, it's a little earlier then expected, Golovko must really have his shit in gear today."

No sooner had Diggs finished speaking than Golovko himself thundered through the door, looking mildly flushed.

"Get your team moving Crisp, we found her, a young girl matching her description was seen three towns over not long ago, it looks like a drop."

"Fuck!" cursed Crisp "You heard him, fucking move your asses."

The level of activity increased three-fold, as expert soldiers started multi-tasking, risking making mistakes in the interest of time.

"What does a drop mean?" asked Harry, fearing the answer.

"I ain't gonna lie to you kid, a drop typically refers to a murdered hostage, if we get there fast enough we might save her, or maybe get the bastards."

"Choppers spinning on the pad lets move people!" Gunny Crisp's voice boomed out.

"Helicopters?" asked Harry.

"You know a better way to get to a place you know nothing about in one big fuckin hurry?" asked Diggs.

Harry followed the men of Alpha Team out of the back door, into the yard, which seemed to have a large hexagonal platform built. On the platform was the strangest looking helicopter Harry had ever seen. It looked more like a trendy sports car with a rotating blade on top than a military helicopter. And for the life of him, Harry couldn't hear the engines.

"Night Stalker, very fast, and the engineers found way to make the blade noise above the level of human hearing, give a dog fits though, and engine noise gets lost in the baffles."

The nine members of the team, plus Harry loaded into the cargo area of the chopper, Diggs and Crisp making sure to be on either side of Harry, he wasn't sure if he was comforted by this, or worried. He wasn't exactly convinced of the intentions of these Americans. The chopper started vibrating as the pilot applied the full force of the engines, without directing power into the collective, building up for a lift-off burst.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, my name is Chief Warrant Officer Andrews, please remember to keep your seat backs and tray tables in the upright position during take off, and remain seated with your seatbelts securely fastened at all times. Our in-flight movie today will be "the new guy puking his guts out", proceeded by the award winning short, "how not to fly a multi-million dollar aircraft you don't own". Thank you for choosing Marine Corps Airlines, please enjoy your flight."

Harry thought that was the dumbest speech he'd ever heard, until the pilot started off his campaign of craziness, twisting the collective all the way to full power, causing the aircraft to literally shoot into the sky at something like terminal velocity. He leveled off at what looked like five hundred feet, and pushed the nose all the way down, flying his bird nearly vertical towards the drop-zone. Harry though that the man had a point, he was going to start puking any second now, only four minutes flying time and he felt like he'd just gone through five roller coasters. He was just about to loose his breakfast, when the aircraft leveled off, and the two men nearest the doors pushed out coils of thick rope, one out each door.

Harry heard Crisp say "Mount-up" over the intercom, and watched as two senior members of the team, he couldn't remember their names, grabbed hold and slid down the ropes, five hundred feet in the air, going well over fifty knots, or seventy miles per hour.

"This way, when we get there, they can just hop off and secure the DZ, while the rest of us slide down the ropes."

"DZ?" asked Harry.

"Drop-Zone." Replied Diggs.

Sure enough, after another agonizing thirty seconds, the chopper tilted back sharply, and came to a hover. Immediately Crisp and one of the female soldiers grabbed the ropes and slid down, two more went five seconds later, and so on until Harry and Diggs were the only two left.

"Use your hands and your feet to squeeze, and for the love of God, be careful. Good Luck."

Diggs was out the door before Harry could even think about questioning the sanity of what he was about to do. He grabbed the rope firmly, squeezed his feet on either side, and let himself fall down quickly. He was caught after two seconds by Diggs, thirty feet below the chopper. It didn't take but twenty seconds for Alpha Team to have a full perimeter set up, and another twenty before Diggs was point, leading the way to the supposed objective. Harry stayed close to Crisp, knuckles clenched white around his wand, hoping that he was ready for anything. Then Diggs' voice came over Crisp's radio.

"Holy Shit! Fuck! Arrrrggggg…."

Silence.

**Haha. That was evil of me. So, shall I finish TGNAC with this event, one chapter in which we discover people's fates, and then move to a sequel, or shall I continue on with TGNAC, review or PM me to vote.**


	29. A New Nightmare Begins

"Sir we're surrounded. Good, that makes it harder to miss."—General George Patton, USA.

**The Wolf At Bay, and Freckles, Proudly Present Chapter 29:**

**A Whole New Nightmare**

The scream over the radio was heard even by Harry, who was not wearing a headset. It made everyone wonder what could make a seasoned special operations soldier scream bloody murder, and scared everyone. Every soldier immediately dropped to either one knee or the prone position. Diggs came running back into the clearing, weapon flailing behind him, still screaming in pain. He tripped on his own feet about twenty feet from Harry, who stared on in horror. Crisp immediately grabbed Harry and threw him as far as he could. Diggs' face was red and bleeding, he was clawing at his throat, unable to breath, and it appeared that his skin was melting.

"Biological Warfare. Looks like VX." Said Crisp.

"Stay back from the body, get on the radio to the Colonel, get a HazMat team in to bag him."

"Harry, stay here, do not move, no matter what. Corporal, stay with him, eyes open. Everyone else spread out and find the girl, touch nothing, masks on."

It took only fifteen nerve wracking minutes. Crisp himself came jogging back into the clearing just as the helicopter touched down, a distinctly red-topped body over his shoulder. Unfortunately, and much to Harry's anger, he was not allowed within twenty feet of his girlfriend, in case she had been contaminated by the same substance as Diggs. He sullenly got onto the same chopper as Crisp, watching men in plastic suits load Diggs and Ginny into another helicopter. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice was telling Harry that he was in shock, either from the fast-paced adrenaline rush, or watching a man's face melt off, he couldn't tell which. He was numb to the horror threatening to take over his mind, he knew, distantly, that it would hit him eventually, but it was a fuzzy thought. Harry wondered if any of the soldiers were feeling the same thing he was, but most of their faces displayed too much emotion for them to be in any kind of shock. Some where even muttering to themselves.

It was a very subdued trip back to the old manor house, no one was talking, the ride was smooth, and the dismount even smoother. Crisp dismissed his team to their quarters, where Harry suspected there were hot showers and hot food waiting. Harry himself went with Crisp, who was going to report back to Major Harris and Colonel Golovko. Crisps' face was impassively grim, displaying no visible emotion, only quite seriousness. Upon entering the Colonels office Harry noticed a comfy looking couch, and didn't wait to be invited to sit. The numbness was starting to wear off, and the horror of watching a friend die was starting to set in, as was the nausea. Harry could hear Crisp and Harris talking quietly, but he neither understood nor cared what they were saying. Colonel Golovko said nothing, but listened intently.

He cared about very little of his surroundings until a familiar face entered the room.

"Sirius?!" asked Harry.

"Hey kid, wow, you look like crap. What did they do to you?" asked Sirius, living up to his name for once.

"We took him on a little trip to pick up his girlfriend, and he got to witness first hand the Op-For stepping things up." Answered Crisp.

"How bad?" asked Sirius,.

"Won't be a hundred percent positive until tomorrow, but I know VX when I see it, and I saw it today." Answered Crisp again.

"Fuck, VX? You're sure?" swore Sirius.

"Does a bear crap in the woods?"

"Right, well, that's your problem for the time being gentlemen, handle it as you want, I'm taking my godson, and goddaughter, back home, where is she?" asked Sirius, looking around for someone who wasn't there.

"She's being decommed, it's highly likely that she was exposed, and we can't risk this thing getting out, or anything else that Op-For might have come up with. Three days." Said the Colonel.

"Three days is too long, you have one." Replied Sirius.

"Black, you don't give orders around here-" started Harris.

"The Fuck I don't, watch me, now either I come back and pick her up tomorrow, or I come back here and embarrass all of your boys. You trained me, you know I can, and this is James' son we're talking about."

To Harry immense surprise, the Colonel actually backed down, he didn't seem the sort to back down from anyone, but he had. Harry followed Sirius from the room, still mildly in shock, images of Diggs' last minutes of life flashing through his mind. How could people do something like _that_ to each other? Even killing one another was bad enough, but to melt another mans face off? Harry couldn't comprehend what could drive a man to such hatred.

"Still numb then Harry?" asked Sirius as they walked.

Harry just nodded, his mind not completely focused on Sirius.

"It'll wear off soon, but then it'll only get worse, so brace yourself for it." said Sirius.

Harry barely noticed when he and Sirius Apperated back home, or when Sirius walked into the kitchen with the intent to cook, something that usually got his attention. Harry just stood in the living room, not really feeling the need to move, or speak, just thinking, trying to figure out what drove people to hate each other so much, especially what drove them to hate him so much that they would go to such extreme measure to get to him. There was not a doubt in his mind that the trap Diggs' had walked into was meant for him, it matched well with the way Voldemort thought.

"Drink this." Said Sirius, pressing a hot mug into Harry's hands.

He dumbly took a gulp of what he thought was tea, and started coughing his lungs up, violently.

"Sirius! What the hell was that?!" demanded Harry when he could use his lungs again.

"That, young Harry, was your first taste of Firewhisky. How do you like it?" grinned Sirius.

"S'not bad actually." Commented Harry, taking another large gulp of the spiked tea, and only coughing a little.

"Whoa, slow down there Harry, your father and I nearly choked to death the first time we tried that stuff, and your taking to it like a fish to water, probably not a good thing."

Sirius tried to take the mug from Harry, who danced out of the way and quickly chugged down the rest of the beverage. Grinning smugly, his mind blissfully cloudy, even if he was a little dizzy.

"Just great, I've turned an international hero into an alcoholic." Moaned Sirius. "Lily's gonna kill me when I die."

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Back in the American Headquarters it was a veritable snowstorm of activity, as everyone dashed about fulfilling the appropriate protocols for a biological attack. The Headquarters building was being locked down, both magically and physically, while a team of four men stood by the fireplaces, making urgent floo calls to everyone from the Minister of Magic to the Daily Prophet. The idea was to get the word out as quickly as possible, and to close down major congregation centers, thereby stopping people from gathering in large groups, and making themselves targets. The problem was that the Ministry was being less than co-operative, Diagon Ally was a major source of sales revenue, and during present times, fighting a guerrilla war, the Minister was not willing to close down his greatest source of tax income.

St. Mungo's too was a problem, as you could hardly shut down the only working magical hospital in London, and the Minister never would have gone for that anyway. The problem now was finding a way, not to mention the manpower, to do a full anti-terror perimeter on two of the most crowded magical sites in Britain, without anyone noticing.

"Call back home and get Teams Two through Five on their way over, tell them to pack up three full Counter-Loads, also get us an uplink, I want round-the-clock video feeds!" yelled Golovko, while the General watched from on high.

Soldiers and technicians scurried back and forth, desperately trying to accomplish their assigned tasks, not because they feared reprimand, but because they now held hundreds of lives in their hands. The faster they got the word out, the more lives could be saved. Team one, Crisp's team, was immediate dispatched to Diagon Ally, in civilian clothes but carrying wands, pistols, knives, radios, and gas masks, to keep an eye on things, and hopefully prevent a theoretical attack. The real concern was St. Mungo's, there was just no way to secure a Ministry facility without the approval of said Ministry, and they just didn't have the man power for it.

"Colonel Golovko!" barked the General.

"Yes General?" responded the Colonel.

"Get together a team of non-essential support personnel, dress them in tactical uniforms and give them equipment, no live rounds, station them at the hospital."

"But sir, they won't be able to do anything, they aren't trained for this."

"I know, but perhaps the mere notion that the hospital is protected will be some deterrent."

"I will see to it at once sir." Replied Colonel Golovko, turning and hurrying to fulfill his mission.

Thirty minutes later there were ten completely normal looking, but highly dangerous people walking through Diagon Ally. At the same time there were ten highly dangerous, but completely normal people stationed at the entrance and lobby of St. Mungo's hospital, and three patrolling the hallways.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

The General's men were not the only ones mobilizing with full knowledge of what they were up against. Dumbledore's people had been informed, through Sirius, of what new means the Death Eaters had turned too. Those who didn't know what that meant had it explained to them, and were even more horrified than before. The idea of a cloud that causes one to melt, when brought into context, is truly terrifying. There were now Order of the Phoenix members patrolling around d Diagon Ally, looking for anything suspicious. Unfortunately to a counter-terror operative, looking for suspicious behavior is classified as suspicious behavior, and The General's men were much better trained than Dumbledore's. the minute Mad-eye, Kingsley, and Tonks had entered Diagon Ally, they had been red-flagged by Team One as potential threats, and were being closely shadowed.

Normally Mad-eye Moody was expert at spotting and shaking tails, but not today. No one member of the team was ever on the subject for more than thirty seconds, and they rotated through seven team members before anyone repeated. Kingsley was easily followed by two people, and they didn't even need a tail on Tonks, she stuck out like a sore thumb. The facial features and distinguishing marks of the subjects had already been sent back to Headquarters for identification. The subjects were quickly confirmed as Aurors, though their status as Dumbledore's agents was not known. Therefore they now had three Aurors, armed and attempting to be covert, staking out a major congestions center. The message that Crisp sent back to Headquarters was grim indeed.

_FLASH-PRIOTITY EYES ONLY_

_ALERT; PROBABLE COMPROMISED SUBJECTS. RECOMMEND COUNTER-INTELL. PLEASE ADVISE._

The message he received back was even worse.

_FLASH-PRIOTITY EYES ONLY_

_NOTED. TAKE DOWN AT YOUR DISCRETION. ACKNOWLEDGE._

_FLASH PRIORITY EYES ONLY_

_ACKNOWLEDGED._

The orders meant that Crisp was to arrest and detain the subjects, then transport them back to Headquarters, The General wasn't taking any chances. He could do the take down whenever he wanted, but he had to do it soon.

"Check in."

"One, check."

"Two, Check."

"Three, check."

"Four, check."

"Five, check."

"Seven, check."

"Eight, check."

"Nine, check."

"Six, check, listen up. New orders from on high, we're taking 'em down. Three, and Seven, you have takedown authority, at your discretion, I want to see how subject three reacts, when your ready, out."


	30. Harry's Very Angry

"Go, go, go!"

Two simultaneous voices rang out on the radios as Crisp's squad leaders led the take down on Moody, Kingsly, and Tonks. In retrospect the situation might have been funny, except that Moody had once been the best Auror in Britain, had been highly trained by the same people that Crisp worked for, and had been training Kingsly and Tonks as his successors. The three never stood a chance against the Para-military police teams that took them down and stunned them, but Tonks at least, despite her reputation for clumsiness, had to be dragged to the street, kicking, screaming, scratching, and biting.

"Six, clean take down, no KIA's, no WIA's. Zero shots fired, out."

"Acknowledged HQ, leave four on patrol, bring the subjects back to the barn."

Crisp and the majority of his men would take the three unlucky Aurors back to headquarters for identification and interrogation, if it came to that. Little did they know the shit storm they would be walking into.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Sirius Black wasn't the only man in history to have escaped from Azkaban Prison for no reason. He was in fact a very, very competent wizard, and was cross trained by the very people he was about to be fighting. His godson wasn't any pushover either. Sirius had very clearly warned Golovko about what would happen if Ginny was not cleared soon enough. Stubborn Americans, never listen to the British.

To be perfectly honest, Sirius was more than a little worried about Harry, not only the separation from his girlfriend, but also the whole "she could be dead" thing, were really starting to take their toll on the young man. That accounted for the kicked in door nicely. Rather than simply open the door, or more violently using magic to destroy it, Harry had put boot to wood, and kicked a seventy pound door right off its hinges. Friggin teenage hormones.

Sirius was broken from his parent-like musings by a hail or multi-colored cursed which flew with deadly accuracy towards his head. Golovko's boys where sharp, and tough as nails, but Sirius was hopefully just a little bit better. Harry was angry enough that skill didn't really matter, but that would only last for so long, exhaustion tends to kick rage in the ass pretty fast, and when it does it leaves one near catatonic, so Harry needed an eye kept on him. Fortunately there were no lethal spells flying, since both sides knew who they were fighting, it would be more than a little problematic if the only people with a chance of killing Voldemort knocked each other off.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Ginny was slipping in and out of consciousness, and even when she was aware of her own existence, her perceptions were hazy at best. It was as if some outside force was in her head, clouding her brain and slowing her thoughts, much like the Imperious Curse. She had no idea what was wrong with her, or how long it lasted, Ginny only knew that she had to keep fighting against the haze, trying to permeate back into the world.

It took an immeasurable amount of time, at least from Ginny's skewed point of view, but was in reality only thirty-six hours, for her to return to some semblance of normal awareness, in which she recognized the effects of a magically induced sleep. She knew from long experience that there was no point in trying to fight a sleeping potion, it simply couldn't be done, there was nothing else for it but to just enjoy the nap.

Lt. Commander Goldstein was in his second year of service to The General, working normally in Intelligence, he had been temporarily re-assigned to the Medical Wing to look after what he was told to call Subject Alpha, but was actually the young lady known as Ginny Weasly. The Officer was tasked with being the first to speak with the girl when she regained consciousness, and the first to receive a conclusive analysis of the substance to which she had been exposed. Everyone already knew that it was VX Nerve Gas, but you had to be absolutely sure about something like this. Having graduated a year late, due to a master's program, from his university, he had entered the United States Navy as a First Lieutenant, as opposed to a Lieutenant Junior Grade. He was promoted quickly up from Navigation Officer on the Frigate USS General Scott, to the Strategic Intelligence Officer of the USS John Stenis battle group. He had been pulled from that assignment by the CIA, done four months of work trying to find Bin Laden, and then been approached by The General. Over the next two years, he had been fiercely trained in previously overlooked magical ability, and become the head of intelligence for the entire Outfit. Quite a record for a man not yet twenty five, though the combat action in the third desert storm certainly hadn't hurt, he had been promoted to Lt. Commander only six months after graduation, a new naval record.

Right now, Lieutenant Commander Goldstein was fervently reminding himself that The General knew what he was doing, and that there had to be a good reason why he was watching a young girl sleep. Even with the unmistakable sounds of battle from the floors above, he already knew it was Potter and Black, he wasn't allowed to leave the girls bed side. The two would-be infiltrators would be headed here to retrieve Miss Weasly anyway, so he would probably get a chance at some action anyway. That was the one drawback to being head of intelligence; he almost never got to go into the field. Killing was, and always would be, Lt. Commander Goldstein's first love. He had gone to SEAL school in between ships, and though he had declined a spot on the elite team, his family would have killed him, he had graduated the course with top marks.

The sounds of the approaching skirmish were getting louder, indicating that Black and Potter where moving closer to their goal, when Ginny Weasly began to wake up.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Sirius was starting to get very concerned about Harry, maybe this whole thing wasn't as good an idea s he'd originally thought. Harry was fighting just fine, a little too fine. His attacks were becoming more and more violent, and Sirius had to block a couple himself to prevent life-threatening injuries. Resistance had slackened off for the most part, now it was only a few, better trained men, who were slowly retreating, leading Harry and Sirius down into the complex basements. It seemed as though the living quarters had been right next to the entry points, so all the rookies and trainees had been right on the door when they entered.

Just as Sirius stopped a curse from Harry, it had looked like something to do with organs, he spotted a familiar red and white cross, the universal symbol for medical aid, the infirmary must be close. That's when the shit really hit the fan.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Harry couldn't really see anything, it was just a red haze, he was just so angry that these arrogant American bastards thought that they could keep Ginny away from him. They were guests here, the least they could do was show some respect for their hosts. He had started out following the plan, using Stunning Spells and other non-lethal means, but as they fought on, the red haze came over, and Harry no longer cared what spells he used, the only thing that mattered was rescuing Ginny. He was no longer consciously aware that she wasn't even in danger.

Then Harry saw the sign that indicated how close they were to the medical wing, to Ginny, and he really lost it. Lethal spells started flying forth from Harry's wand, and he increased his pace, no longer caring if any spells hit him, he didn't know it, but a stunning spell from a fully trained wizard probably wouldn't slow him down much in his current condition. Harry saw what he somehow knew was the door to the medical wing ahead, and plowed through it, not even bothering to open it or even kick it down, he just ran through it, ready to curse the first person he saw. That was when a sledgehammer hit him in the back, and world turned to blackness.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Lieutenant Commander Goldstein knew that the two infiltrators would make it into the medical wing, his job was intelligence, and he knew that Black and Potter were good enough, especially since orders from Golovko where to allow the men to enter the medical wing, but not leave it. He rose from his seat and moved to a position behind the door, Potter was by now too far gone for coherent thought, and he was going to crash that door any second. Goldstein raised the barrel of his shotgun, waiting for the crash. It came a moment later, just as expected, and the Naval Officer fired a beanbag round point black into Potter's back. The small bag of clay impacted right between the boys shoulder blades at a few hundred feet per second, instantly knocking him out.

Black ran through the destroyed door a moment later, horror and rage evident on his face as he saw the prostrate body of his godson.

"Don't worry, he'll live. He's just knocked out, much more effective than a stunning spell." Said Goldstein, hefting the shotgun.

"Well, this is awkward, here we are fighting our way through your base one minute, and now talking like gentlemen." Said Sirius.

"You really think you fought your way in here? We let you in."

"Did you now? And here I thought you were just slipping." Joked Sirius.

"For some reason or other Colonel Golovko wants you two in here, and I can tell you right now, none of you is leaving till The General says so. Please don't try anything, these beanbag rounds give one hell of a kick, and I'd prefer not to fire it again."

"So what now? We just sit here and trade barbs with each other?" asked Sirius.

"No, actually. You get the boy up onto a bed, while I start doing my job." Said Goldstein.

"What exactly is your job?" asked Sirius.

"To find out every single detail of what happened to her between being captured, and us finding her." Said Goldstein as Ginny started to stir.

"You know that if you push too hard, he'll most likely try to kill you?" asked Sirius, motioning towards Harry.

"I'm pretty sure I can take him, he doesn't look much tougher than he is." Answered the American.

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The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, still invisibly located at Number 12, Grimould Place, was a flurry of panicked activity. Professor Albus Dumbledore was at the center of all of the activity, trying to sort through the confusion, and find his three missing Aurors. He sighed as he saw Fred and George Weasly, adding to the confusion, swapping people's wands for their fake ones, and throwing rubber chickens at each other. A single glare from the Headmaster immediately sobered their boisterous behavior. The rubber chickens and turkey legs continues to appear however, whenever people attempted spells.

Kingsly, Tonks, and Moody had all failed to report from Diagon Ally, leading the Order believe that something was amiss, however when Remus Lupin arrived to scout out the situation, he found everything perfectly safe and normal, and absolutely no trace of the Order's resident Aurors. He was now mobilizing the entire Order of the Phoenix, for the first time since the night the Potters had died, to mount a search and rescue. The forty odd members had only ever been completely united in protecting Harry as Hagrid had flown him to Privet Drive. Diagon Ally had been scoured, to the point where the Ministry had shown up and demanded to know what was going on, Dumbledore had of course lied to them. There was no trace of Dark Magic, nor of a Portkey, no one had Apparated outside of the approved areas, and no shop owners reported any unusual Floo Travel. Either the three Aurors had left of their own volition, or someone had done one hell of a job forcing them covertly.

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Sgt. Crisp's strike force was nearly back at their own headquarters; with they're three mistaken prisoners in tow. The farce team from St. Mungo's had checked in, and reported only one incident, where a suspected hostile had showed up, scouted around, and promptly left. It seemed that the show of force had done its job, at least for the time being. As soon as his team was in sight of the disguised building, Crisp knew something was wrong, very wrong. Smoke rose from a few holes in the walls, and the area where the door had once been was now a heap of rubble, sporting a few decorative bodies.

Weapons snapped up instantly, some sweeping outside of an irregular semi-circle, and some trained on the breach points in the HQ building. The teams Corpsmen Medic, Cpl. Smyth, ran to check the bodies, and immediately reported them alive, but out of action for a long time, his silenced RP-90 trained on the destroyed doorway.

"Ok team; let's storm our own HQ, UCM DELTA!"

UCM DELTA, or Urban Combat Maneuver Delta, which meant the fourth on a long list, was a tactical plan that had been practiced and re-practiced so many times most of the team could do it in their sleep. It was the far from standard operational procedure for re-taking your own strong points from an entrenched enemy. It was designed specifically to rely on very good Intel, and to allow for lots of friendly's in the hot zone. The team began to disperse, using a one by one, one by one, one by one system to advance. One man would move up, and then his teammate would move up in front of him. There would be three sets of teams doing this down one corridor, allowing for a good dispersion of firepower. The first four floors were nothing but battle scared walls and unconscious bodies, and absolutely no evidence of an enemy presence, nothing to prevent a counter-attack. Crisp began to toy with the idea that this may have been a snatch-and-grab, or, god forbid, a sweep and clear. Sweep and clear was the friendly way of saying seek and destroy, which was a way of saying kill everything.

At the door to the medical wing, which had been cleanly removed from its hinges somehow or other, Crisp began to hear voices over the muffled footsteps of his team. The only reason he could hear their steps was because he knew to listen for it. He held up a closed fist, telling his men and women to stop, then opened his palm and held it horizontally, slowly moving it downwards, the signal to hold position and get ready for a firefight. Crisp himself moved up, intending to breach the doorway himself.

The mantle of command dictated leading from the front, by example, but it was still essential that leaders stay behind and out of the line of fire. Leaderless troops in a hostile area where doomed. The hard part was finding the invisible line between forward leadership, and the duty to survive and lead. In this situation, Crisp decided that it was worth the risk, he was going through that door first, and if he died, well that would suck.

The noncom slowly eased up to the door, in almost complete silence, one wrong move and he could end up splattered all over the wall. There was silence from the room beyond; Crisp didn't know if that was a good or a bad sign. A small fiber optic probe confirmed that there was no one in the immediate vicinity of the breach point. The silenced MP5 went through first, quickly followed by a helmeted head. When no one shot at him, Crisp propelled himself off of his muscular legs, literally flying into the room, and tucking into a roll. He came eloquently up to a half crouch, weapon leveled and sweeping for targets.

Crisps eyes went wide behind his helmet, as the sights on his weapon passed over Harry Potter, Sirius Black, and the Head of Intelligence? Things progressed downhill from there, as The General entered the room, closely followed by Colonel Golovko.

_**A/N: greetings loyal minions. I'd like to start by apologizing for the long wait, but I'm trying to work out the Americans and get back to my roots, so it's not too easy to write. I promise I'm not giving up, and if I do, you'll have ample forewarning. I've recently found out that I'm and unstable sociopath, so that ought to make things interesting. Please leave some reviews, I need a little encouragement people. **_


	31. The Snake and The Bear

"_There's no point in doing something stupid if you aint gonna learn from it." -- Master Sergeant Fletcher Baily, USA (R)_

**The Wolf at Bay and Freckles Proudly Present Chapter 31:**

**The Snake And The Bear**

It was a very strange, awkward couple of minutes. Two flag officers, two extraordinary teenagers, three special forces commandos, one intelligence specialist, and Sirius Black. No one moved or spoke, no one really knew what to say, accept The General, and Colonel Golovko, but they certainly weren't going to ruin the moment, the suspense was fantastic.

"So… what the fuck is going on?" asked Black

It was The General who answered him.

"To put it simply, you've broken into my base of operations, injured many of my people, and are attempting to kidnap the subject of a biological weapons attack, risking infecting the outside population, most unwise."

"Oh, well when you put it that way, who died and made you god?" asked Harry

"The roughly 170,000 people that would die if your girlfriend were exposed to the general population." Answered The General

"They can all go to hell, I only care about one of them." Said Harry

"Well unfortunately some of us don't have that luxury, some of us have to worry about more than just our own happiness, you may be an exceptional young man, Harry Potter, but you have a good deal left to learn about being a man. Fortunately for you, the young lady is not infected, not only shall she survive, but you may have her back as soon as my intelligence specialist is finished with her." The General and Colonel Golovko turned and left the room, with the air of two bears who had turned down a meal.

Crisp and his men stood down, at a subtle hand signal from Goldstein, and left the room, heading to the weapons locker to re-supply and go back to Diagon Ally. Only Harry, Sirius, Ginny, and Goldstein remained for the lengthy interrogation, during which Harry found some pain killers for his back.

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An hour after The General spoke to Harry, he was sitting an interrogation room, facing the three captured Aurors. He still didn't know that they worked for Dumbledore directly, and he sure wasn't telling. The interrogation went on, The General got some answers, but not as many as he wanted. What none of the men in the room knew was that Kingsley was carrying a small passenger, and that one of the Galleons in his pocket wasn't a form of currency, but rather a tracking device. Even as The General demanded to know how long they had been serving Voldemort, said Dark Lord was massing his forces just over the row of hills, preparing an assault on the American headquarters. The Dark Lord had found out about the foreign soldiers, and wanted them dead before they became any more of a threat. Nagini slithered through the grass at his feet, she had never had American flesh before, and was always eager to taste new people.

"Let it begin."

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It was good to be back home. It seemed as though the last week or so had been nothing but one problem right after another, and no break in between. More than a week actually, if you counted all of the horrible events that had occurred at Hogwarts and gotten him the week off in the first place. So much had happened in such a short space of time, it was overwhelming, plus there was the as yet unmentioned problem of how he was going to take his OWLs this year. Harry and Ginny were both safely back at Potter Place, enjoying their last day of vacation before returning to school. It seemed that someone at the Ministry had grown a brain, as most of the DMLE was now undergoing abbreviated Auror training. The Hit Wizard Squad was working triple overtime, with units stationed in Diagon Ally, St. Mongo's, and Hogsmeade, as well as a force of fifty detailed to cover the Ministry building.

Things had calmed down slightly, people were still dying, but not nearly as rapidly as they could be, and nearly every death seemed to be an assassination. Four Junior Ministers had been killed, as well as the Deputy Head of the DMLE, and two attempts had been made on the Minister himself, as well as one against Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE. Fortunately the Hit Wizards and Aurors working the Protective Detail were experts at their jobs, and had managed to kill or capture ten of the would be assassins. There was a fifty thousand Galleon reward for any information leading to the capture of a Death Eater, and another fifty thousand for any conclusive tips of attack or assassinations. It seemed as if the powers that be had finally gotten a clue, and were going to do their jobs.

Harry, however, had nothing what so ever to do with any of it. He was sitting in his living room, furiously kissing his girlfriend, and god only knew where Sirius was, if he even cared. They were to return to  
Hogwarts tomorrow, and Harry was half looking forward to it, as there were far fewer people in Hogwarts trying to kill him than there were in the rest of the world. It had been explained to him by Sirius that after his little stunt against Voldemort in the re-taking of Hogwarts, he was regarded as something of a junior lieutenant by the other side, and they were methodically planning his death. Sirius also assured him that with the new actions by the ministry Hogwarts should be fairly safe against anything short of an all out attack. Harry was going to continue to be trained by Sirius and Remus, with some help from Moody, so that he could defend himself and his friends if need be. Sirius had informed him that he would be starting Auror training in his sixth year, and could even be a badged Auror as early as his seventh year.

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The last day of the impromptu break couldn't have come soon enough in Harry's opinion, it was almost like when he had been at Privet Drive, counting down the time until he could return to his world. As much as he loved spending his days at his house, isolated from everything that annoyed him, with his firecracker of a girlfriend, there was far too much drama outside of school right now. All Harry wanted was to go to class, procrastinate his homework, and play Quidditch like it was going out of style, not that it ever would of course. He was looking forward to playing pranks with Ron and the twins, and sneaking into Hogsmead for drinks and sweets, and trying to be a normal kid for as long as he could pretend. Harry knew he was deeper in this war than he wanted to be, and sooner rather than later his shit would hit the fan just as hard as everyone else's. Harry was going to spend as much time living life, especially with Ginny, as he could before it was time to go off and play soldier with the Order.

The fireplaces all through the school had been unblocked and connected to the Floo Network to facilitate the return of ninety percent of the students, and a teacher was present at each and every one, along with five fully trained Hit Wizards. The problem was that with that many fireplaces in such close proximity to each other, it was impossible to predict which one you would arrive at. Harry ended up somewhere near the Astronomy Tower, alone, to be greeted by Professor Sinestra and five tough looking wizards. He greeted the Professor, nodded to the guards, and made his way towards Gryffindor Tower, which was only a floor away.

He had already been sitting in the common room for ten minutes when Ginny and Hermione entered, followed by Ron, Fred, and George, who looked less than happy.

"Came out in the dungeons, with Snape-" Fred practically spit the name out.

"Wanker told the Hit Wizards that he'd never seen us before, so we had to be searched, and then wait for Dumbledore to come verify who we were." Finished George.

"Of course Snape got off scot free, told Dumbledore that he'd been in the dark too long or some such rubbish." Ranted Ron.

"Where did you come out?" asked Ginny, who was sprawled across Harry's lap, must to her brothers distaste.

"Astronomy Tower, I've waiting her e for ages." Answered Harry.

There were no classes that day, but there was a extra long dinner planned, not quite a feast, but still grander than usual. Before they ate however, Professor Dumbledore had a few announcements to make.

"Welcome back all of you, I trust that we all enjoyed our time home. Now due to the nature of the problems we have been experiencing, and the inherent dangers present, some new rules are going to be in place. Firstly, we shall have a team of fifteen Hit Wizards on the grounds at all times, they shall be patrolling the grounds and corridors, so see to it that you are not out of bounds, lest you be mistaken for someone you are not. Secondly, all Quidditch practices shall be supervised by myself, if I am not there, assume that your practice is cancelled. All students visiting Hogsmead will do so in groups of four or more, including at least one Sixth or Seventh Year Student. Defense Against the Dark Arts will now have two double periods a week for each year, and will be mandatory for all NEWT level students. These rules are in place for your protection and safety, please do not break or bend them. Thank you, enjoy your meal."

The food appeared on the tables as it always did, and tasted as good as always. The new rules were not bothersome, Fred and George would spend a Hogsmead trip with them without complaint, and sneaking around wasn't a problem when one had a certain map and cloak. As for having Professor Dumbledore at Quidditch practice, well that one could be fun.

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Alastor Moody was standing next to Gawain Roberts and Rufus Scrimegeour, the Deputy Director and the Director, respectively, of the Auror Department. While technically a part of the DMLE, the Auror Department preferred to operate as independently as possible, with its own bureaucracy. This had its advantages and its disadvantages, as the Department was free from the bureau-bullshit which plagued other departments, but lacked the political clout to effect major change, for which they needed to rely on Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE. Amelia was a good troop, knew when she was wrong, and knew who to listen to, so in the end, it worked out pretty well.

Tonight was not one of those nights. The worst international incident in the history of Britain's Magical government had occurred, and it may very well undue the Wizingamont. Fifty-seven dead Americans, over a hundred dead or dying Death Eaters, and one Dark Mark, all centered around a dilapidated mansion. It was quickly confirmed that a team of sixty Americans had been sent to help gather intelligence and run covert operations against Voldemort, and that this smoldering crater had been their headquarters. The building was gone, as were three of the Americans, apparently the most senior. One badly injured young man, who had been identified by Moody as one Lieutenant Commander Goldstein, Head of Intelligence, had lived long enough to tell the tale. Shorty after dark the previous night, during the debriefing of the interrogation of Aurors Moody, Kingsley, and Tonks, every alarm and ward had gone off, as over two hundred Death Eaters attacked the building, led by Lord Voldemort himself. The Americans had fought hard, to the death, and had taken over half of the opposing Death Eaters with them. The crater was literally saturated with shell casings, indicating that a furious amount of muggle ammunition had been expended. While excellent tacticians, and spectacular soldiers, the Americans were not particularly accomplished Wizards and Witches, not on the level to duel the Dark Lord anyway. The General and The Colonel had managed to match Voldemort's speed and viciousness, but not his skill. No one knew where they were, they were listed as MIA, assumed KIA. One of the junior analysts was also missing, though he was assumed to be a Prisoner of War. Moody and his fellow prisoners had forgivingly been released just thirty minutes before the assault began.

The American Ministry, needless to say, was furious over the situation, and were threatening everything from demanding compensation, to declaring open war on Britain in general. That was certainly something to fear, as the Americans had turned warfare into a deadly science, and they were the best at it. Fifty seven dead, and three missing, was not the result they had been hoping from this operation, and now there were families asking how their loved ones could have been killed during a joint training exercise in Britain.

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**International Slaughter!**

_**American task force reduced to cinders!**_

_Late last night, while we slept peaceably in our beds, good men did violence on our behalf to keep it so. Fifty seven American Service men and women, volunteers, here of their own volition, were brutally slaughtered by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. The American force had been our guests for the last three weeks, helping the Ministry gather information and execute operations against the Death Eaters. At around sundown last night, an estimated two hundred Death Eaters, led by You-Know-Who himself, assaulted the American Headquarters, wiping them out. All accounts indicate that the battle was furiously close, the Americans outnumbered four to one, and still killing over half of their attackers. They fought and died like hero's, but in the end it seems that only two men are good enough to up against You-Know-Who, and one of them is still a boy._

_Statements from the Minister……..P.4_

_Statements from Albus Dumbledore…….P.5-7_

_Statements from Sirius Black……P.8-10_

_Statements from Harry Potter……P.10-12_

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Harry looked down at the Daily Prophet over breakfast, reasonably happy with the result. He commented to Ron that he might have it framed, as it was the first decent piece of reporting done on him. He had given the interview after classes the previous day, after Professor Dumbledore had briefed him on the battle. Harry was saddened to hear of the death of so many, especially a few whom he had known, but he refused to let it eat away at him. They had been professional soldiers, ones with a very close relationship with death, and a complete absence of fear. Dying had always been part of the bargain for them, and they had all been blessed with the most heroic of deaths. He would always remember them, and would try to learn from their example.

The next day's paper held an even more interesting series of articles.

Front page:

_**Minister of Magic Sacked!**_

_**Amelia Bones Promoted!**_

_In an emergency meeting of the entire Wizengamont held early this morning, around 2 A.M., a motion was filed by Mr. Amos Diggory, calling for the immediate dismissal of Cornelius Fudge, following his poor leadership in the conflict against You-Know-Who. The motion was passed unanimously, and Minister fudge accepted his early retirement, agreeing to stay on as chief procedural advisor to the new Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones. Madam Bones accepted the position, instantly drafting several pieces of legislation in order to create new positions and offices within the Ministry, directed at combating the Death Eaters and their leader._

_Office of Dark Magic Detection: Director Alastor Moody_

_Director of Emergency Aid and St. Mungo's liaison: Healer Augustus Pye_

_Department of Magical Law Enforcement: Director Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Auror Office: Director Rufus Scrimegeour_

_Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Dangerous Artifacts: Director Author Weasley_

_Department for Special Combat Services: Director Sirius Black_

_Senior Undersecretary to the Minister: Undersecretary Gawain Robards_

_Janitor: Dolores Umbridge_

_These new departments and offices are being created and staffed as we speak, except for the DMLE, which is merely under new management, and are expected to be fully active by the end of the week._

"_With these new offices, and their combined resources, we aim to cripple those calling themselves Death Eaters, and clear the path to Voldemort, so that he may finally be permanently defeated."_

– _Minister Bones_

"_With the people we have working for us, I'm confident the arrest rate should skyrocket"_

–_Director Shacklebolt_

"_The new SCS is going to be the Ministries quick response force, allowing the Aurors to concentrate on what they do best, investigation, we'll handle the fighting, while they do their jobs"_

–_Director Black_

_**Well that's it folks, chapter 31, you'll never know how much it hurt me to wipe out my American friends, but it was a necessary evil. I'm trying to move back to my roots…. FLUFF!!!! So hopefully we'll be getting a little lighter, but with lots of gut-wrenching gore and violence!!!**_

_**The WoLf At BaY**_


	32. Coffee and New Kids

"_Never say you're sorry, it's a sign of weakness"—John Wayne_

**The WoLf At BaY Proudly Presents Chapter 32:**

**COFFEE!**

Sirius Black wanted coffee, really badly, in fact, he was fully prepared to commit the murders he had been accused of if it meant he would get his coffee. All of the damned students with their tests and studying were drinking all of the coffee. Well Sirius had the safety of the entire country as well as teaching most of the same ungrateful brats that were drinking all of his coffee. It just wasn't fair!

"Where's all the damn coffee!" Sirius yelled, bursting into the Great Hall.

"You all think life is so hard with your classes and tests, well I spend as much time teaching as you do learning, and as much time grading as you do studying, AND THEN I have to go and fight some idiot Death Eaters every damned night, because they can't seem to work during the day. So stop taking all my damn coffee!"

"You done yet Sirius?" asked Harry while calmly sipping a steaming mug of coffee.

Sirius moved towards his godson until they were practically nose to nose.

"Where did you get that coffee?" asked Sirius, his voice barely above a low whisper.

"I had Dobby save me the very last cup in the castle." Answered Harry, smirking at the now enraged Professor.

"That's it! No one screws with a Marauders Coffee and gets away with it!"

Sirius pushed off the table with his arms and legs, vertically leaping back 3 feet and then casting a very strong Banishing Curse at Harry, which only succeeded in splattering breakfast across the wall, as Harry had started to move at the same instant as Sirius, and was now three feet to his left, still sipping his coffee. The entire school was present in the Great Hall and turned to watch the 'famous Death Eater Hunters' dueling each other, over a cup of coffee. Sirius cast another Banishing Charm at the spot where Harry was when he started, only to have to duck a Stunner that Harry had silently cast from another three feet to the left, while still drinking coffee. As his stunner missed, Harry cast a Banishing Charm at the wall behind him, angled down about halfway, which sent him airborne over the Gryffindor Table, and out of the path of Sirius' latest missed spell. Sirius was getting angry at this point, firing spells almost randomly at his swiftly dodging godson, but not even managing to get Harry to spill his coffee.

Harry it seemed was content to duck and dodge, only occasionally shooting spells at Sirius, and sipping his coffee the entire time. He ducked his head slightly to avoid a nasty cutting curse, something he wouldn't think Sirius would use over a cup of coffee, and cast another Banishing Charm, propelling himself up into the air and onto the Hufflepuff table, from there he cast three silent Stunners at Sirius, which he easily dodged. Looking down Harry saw that his coffee cup was empty, and grinned in a predatory manor as he dropped the mug, prepared to fully start dueling.

Sirius saw this as well and took a moment to calm himself, knowing that this was now a serious contest, as opposed to him venting his frustration. Harry wanted to see if he could really beat his godfather and teacher, and Sirius was only too happy to show him the error of his ways. By an unspoken acknowledgement the impromptu duel started, both Harry and Sirius moving clockwise, occasionally using a Banishing Charm or Summoning Charm to aid and speed their movements. It took nearly 6 minutes of calculating and assessing for either duelist to take real action; both Harry and Sirius had seen each other duel so many times, against Remus, in Sirius' case, or classmates, in Harry's case, and both against Death Eaters, that they felt they could anticipate, and be anticipated, too well. Harry moved first, using his superior speed to duck around and behind some Ravenclaws at their table, and shoot two Stunners at Sirius. Unsurprisingly both missed, and Sirius answered with rather more powerful Cutting and Bludgeoning Curses. Harry dodged the Cutting Curses and contempously blocked the Bludgeoning Curses.

"If that's how you wanna play Sirius, fine by me. Sectumsempra!"

The arc of purple light hit Sirius in the shoulder, completely crippling his left arm, spraying half of Gryffindor House with blood. Sirius answered with a curse that Harry didn't know, which hit him in the leg, causing his right thigh to shatter like someone had taken a sledge hammer to it. Harry cried out in pain and immediately dove to his left, shooting four stunners at Sirius as he fell.

"Dementius!"

The bright black spell left Harry's wand and hit Sirius, who was busy blocking Stunners, leaving him writhing on the stone floor, screaming in agony. Harry showed no intention of releasing Sirius until the older man forced him to, and there was sure as hell no one else trying to get on the wrong side of his wand, even the teachers remained still.

"Albus surely-"

"No Minerva, we must let Harry fully test himself, and, though I deplore his choice of spells, it will do the students good to have a champion, one of their own to stand behind against Voldemort." Though not even the learned Headmaster expected what happened next.

In fact most of those present believed Harry responsible for the flurry of spells raining down, it was his signature Explosion Hex, except for the fact that every curse was aimed at, and squarely connected with one Harry James Potter.

Hundreds of pair of curious eyes, some much older than others, followed the graceful yet destructive arc of spell fire back to its caster. A boy, apparently no older than Harry himself, dressed, albeit casually, in what was to the trained eye a VERY expensive suit and tie, and curved, pointed shoes. The two wands in the newcomers hands were dispensing spells as fast, or maybe even faster than Harry has when endeavoring to retake his first real home.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CURSING PEOPLE WITHOUT INTRUCING YOURSELF FIRST YOUNG MAN?"

A scream to rival Molly Weasley on her best day erupted from the tall, mousy haired, and quite attractive woman now seen to be standing behind the boy, who visibly winced at the scolding from what was undoubtedly his mother. The spell fire immediately stopped.

"But mom, I've never even met Dad, I can't just let some kid curse him now can I?" replied the stranger.

"DAD?" the question was echoed by nearly the entire school, heads revolving between the newly arrived couple, and Sirius Black, just getting to his feet.

"Nice curse by the way Harry," remarked Sirius, "And who the hell are you callin dad kid?"

"Well Sirius Orion Black, I would think that would be painfully obvious." Answered the boys mother.

"Hey I've been in Azkaban for twelve years, sorry to disappoint, your good looking, but no way I was the one that knocked you up." Sirius said this deadpan with a real shit eating grin on face. Which was promptly removed.

"You "knocked me up" before you went to Azkaban you idiot."

Sirius immediately fell flat on his ass in shock, as did Remus Lupin, who had appeared conveniently and with no explanation.

"SYNTHIA?" this came from Remus, Sirius too busy hyperventilating to speak.

The woman, who did bear a striking resemblance to the werewolf, nodded confirmation, causing Remus to join Sirius on the floor in shock.

"Ummmm question? Who the fuck is Synthia?" asked Harry.

The boy answered this question.

"My mother, his sister, and his wife." As he spoke this he pointed to himself, Remus, and Sirius in turn.

Harry joined the other two flat on the floor in shock.

"Jeez mom, what a bunch of pussies…"

Understandably, this sobered the three up very quickly, though Harry was the only one with capacity for abstract thought at the moment.

"Hang on a second, your Remus' sister, Sirius' wife, and his mother, which would make him… Sirius has a bloody kid!"

"Guilty." Spoke Sirius from the floor, though Harry barely noticed.

"And its by Remus' sister, Padfoot you dog, knocked up your best friends sister, should we make sure Dudley isn't yours as well?"

"Sorry kiddo, no way your cousin is mine, though I will take full credit for the young man that just nearly blew you into your bacon, especially considering his mother looks better now than when she was twenty."

"Easy Sirius, that's my little sister…" warned Remus.

"Synthia where in the hell have you two been?" asked Sirius, seriously for a change.

"With you in prison as a deranged murderer? Australia of course."

"Australia?"

"Yes, idiot, Australia."

"As in kangaroo's?"

"Uh-huh"

"Like throw another shrimp on the Barbie Australia?"

"YES! And that accent is really terrible by the way."

Sirius and Remus both broke down in tears at this point running to the woman and grabbing her in a rib crushing, two man hug, lifting her clean off the floor in the process. This of course caused her to hit the both soundly about the head for several minutes.

The boy, in the mean moved towards Harry, extending his hand.

"A.J. Black, I suppose your Harry, and I think that makes us just about brothers."

Harry considered the outstretched hand for a moment, then grasped it warmly.

"I'd say so, coffee?" offered Harry

"Much appreciated."

A.J. Black took a cup of delicious, steaming coffee from Harry Potter, and both boys turned to watch the touching family reunion moment.

**Sorry kiddies, that's all for now. But I got big news…. I'M BACK! I know it's been forever, I work too damned hard, but now we're right back on track, I know it's a little short but more to come. As requested, nay, demanded by you, serious complicated shit-gone. Fluffy fun stuff-back! Enjoy. A.J. and Synthia are here to stay, it'll be fun I promise, and We'll get a better account of them later I promise.**

_**~~ThE wOlF aT bAy**_


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